Based on a resolution by the West Virginia Young Democrats, Manchin signed the proclamation last Friday near a coal miner statue at the Capitol Complex in Charleston, with miners, union representatives, West Virginia Coal Association officials and others in attendance.

Secretary of state Natalie Tennant was also present, and noted to various local media that very few in the region had not been touched by coal mining in some way.

“Whether we are from the south coalfields, or where I’m from in the northern part of the state where we have seen so many tragedies, coal mining is a part of what it means to be a West Virginian.”

Manchin also told the crowd that the proclamation was a bipartisan effort.

“On both sides of the aisle, one thing we can all agree on is that without the hard-working men and women in the coal mines, we don’t have what we have today,” he said.

“Coal miners expose themselves to dangerous risks on the job every day; therefore, safety is paramount and regulations designed to protect our miners must continue to be enforced rigorously.

“Environmental challenges that face the coal industry should be continually addressed and monitored through appropriate regulations to ensure that our mining communities remain healthy both environmentally and economically now and in the future.”

Earlier this week, a new advocacy group for the Appalachian region and overall industry introduced itself: the Federation for American Coal, Energy and Security.

The grassroots coalition launched a national campaign Wednesday in West Virginia’s capital city to promote coal’s economic benefits as well as the local resources the industry creates. Made up of 70 different organizations and individuals from the Appalachian region, FACES intends to educate regulators and the general public about the importance of coal and mining both locally and nationally.

FACES organizers said the group began out of an ongoing deep concern that outside groups were determined to end Appalachian coal mining, and that pressure from radicals paired with what it calls “arbitrary government delays” for mine permits would lead to significant job cuts, budget crises and an even greater dependence on foreign energy supplies.

“The FACES of Coal campaign is building on the effective work of Friends of Coal, Coal Mining our Future and the Mountaintop Mining Coalition among others to make sure local, state and federal lawmakers and people around the country know the facts about coal and understand how important coal mining is to the region,” the group said.

Membership in FACES is open to all. Coordinator Bryan Brown said Wednesday that with planned rollouts of FACES in Kentucky and Virginia in the coming weeks, he hoped the initiative would go nationwide.

While the US has seen relatively low fatality numbers in 2009 with 10 deaths reported as of August 20, two of those have occurred in West Virginia. The latest was July 28, when contractor Mark Gray was killed at Patriot Coal’s Catenary Coal Samples mine after an excavator he was driving rolled into a pond.