Can the US Afford to Get Rid of Coal? Can It Afford Not to?

Making News

Justice Stevens to Step Down ()

After 35 years on the US Supreme Court, Justice John Paul Stevens says he'll retire at the end of this year's session. He is about to turn 90 years old, and his departure gives President Obama his second chance to shape the highest court in the land. Jeff Bravin covers the court for the Wall Street Journal.

Guests:

• Jess Bravin: Supreme Court Reporter, Wall Street Journal, @JessBravin

Links:

• President Obama on Justice Stevens' lifetime of service
• Solicitor General Elena Kagen
• Federal Appeals Court Justice Merrick Garland
• Federal Appeals Court Justice Diane Wood

Main Topic

Coal: A Necessary Evil? ()

Twenty-five miners are known to have died in this week's massive explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia.  The effort to rescue four men still unaccounted for may be a lost cause. Even before this week's tragedy, the Obama Administration took aim at surface coal mining with a new set of environmental regulations. The loss of human life in the Upper Big Branch mine will likely produce new safety measures for methane gas deep underground. The coal industry and miners themselves claim new rules threaten their economic survival. Can coal mining be made safer and cleaner, or does America's appetite for energy mean putting up with so-called "hidden costs?"

Guests:

• Hoppy Kercheval: Host, West Virginia MetroNews' 'Talkline'
• Bruce Dail: Owner, Dial Mine Safety
• Luke Popovich: Vice President of Communications, National Mining Association
• Scott Edwards: Director of Advocacy, Waterkeeper Alliance

Links:

• Massey Energy on the Big Branch Mine accident
• MSHA on the Big Branch Mine explosion
• MSHA on the 2006 Sago Mine explosion
• Coal's impact on Kentucky State budget (Mountain Association for Community Economic Development)
• Study on the West Virginia coal economy (Marshall University)

Reporter's Notebook

Confederate History Month in Virginia ()

Democrats Mark Warner and Tim Kaine abandoned Confederate History Month when they were governors of Virginia. Republican Bob McDonnell has revived it. In his apology for forgetting to mention slavery, he said the Civil War also "involved other issues…but I focused on the ones I thought were most significant for "Virginia." Lacy Ford is Professor of History at the University of South Carolina and author of Deliver Us from Evil: the Slavery Question in the Old South.

Guests:

• Lacy Ford: Professor of History, University of South Carolina