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Today, as we publish this week’s Coal Currents, the United States observes National Coal Miners Day — a moment to honor the 41,200 direct miners and roughly 24,000 contractors, engineers, electricians, truck drivers, and support crews who still go underground or work the surface pits in 2025.
These are the men and women who, in Q2 alone, moved nearly half a billion short ton every working hour (5.15 st/employee hour) while facing shrinking payrolls, automation, and the ever-present physical toll of the job. Their combined weekly paycheck — an estimated $188.6 million — flows into small towns from Appalachia to the Powder River Basin, keeping schools open, diners busy, and families fed long after the headlines move on.
Whatever side of the energy debate you sit on, the reality is simple: without their skill and sacrifice, the lights would have flickered many times this winter. Data centers humming with AI, steel mills running at 76 % capacity, and millions of homes staying warm during the latest cold snap all lean — quietly but undeniably — on the work done by these miners.
So on this National Coal Miners Day, we pause the policy arguments and market analysis for one sentence of straightforward gratitude:
Thank you to every coal miner, past and present. Your labor built the backbone of American industry, and it still keeps the grid standing when the wind dies and the sun sets.
We see you. We respect you. And today, the nation officially does too.
