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JobKeeper said proponents of Kennedy’s anti-coal crusade were now targeting Alabama and noted that Alabamian environmentalist Nelson Brooke was spotted participating in Kennedy’s anti-coal rally last May in Portland, Oregon.
The group said opposition to west coast port development and Walter Energy’s new Blue Creek longwall project in Alabama were a danger to the continued export of Alabama coal and state job security.
JobKeeper executive director Patrick Cagle said stopping the export of Alabama-produced coal would send thousands of high-paying jobs overseas and devastate the state’s economy.
“These new coal mining jobs are important to Alabama and we are going to protect them,” he said.
“With the addition of theses 450 new jobs, the coal industry will employ more Alabamians than the Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance and the future Airbus assembly plant coming to Mobile combined.
Walter’s Blue Creek no. 1 underground will be located in Tuscaloosa County and is projected to produce 2.5-3.5 million tons of metallurgical coal annually.
The $US1.2 billion development plan will also include a coal terminal to be located at the Port of Mobile, a barge load-out facility in Walker County and a rail spur in Fayette County.
