Human Resources Problems in the Bituminous Coal Industry

Coal is expected to play an increasingly important role in meeting U.S. energy needs. In his 1978 energy message, President Carter set a production goal of 1.2 billion tons annually by 1985, an increase of 500 million tons within a seven year period.. The enormity of this challenge is evident when measured against past production data. During the past 25 years, the coal industry has added fewer than 10 million tons of new capacity annually.. The President's 1985 production goal would require an estimated 70 million tons of new capacity annually (Forbes, 1977:73)