Administrative Law Judge Margaret A. Miller ruled that Cumberland River Coal Company improperly fired 52-year-old Charles Scott Howard of Letcher County after he was injured on the job. The judge ordered Howard reinstated and says the company must pay a $30,000 fine.
Federal officials now say coal accounts for slightly more than one-third of the electricity generated in the United States. Coal's percentage of the market hasn't been that low in decades.
As the Environmental Protection Agency begins its public forums on coal mining permits in Kentucky, U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell is rallying for coal to be a bigger part of the nation's energy portfolio.
