How big coal companies avoid cleaning up their messes
Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/10/29/1127520991/west-virginia-coal-mining-alpha
While coal's devastating contribution to climate change has been well documented, it has also left a long and painful legacy in communities where it's mined. A joint investigation by Bloomberg News and NPR found that Alpha is one of several large U.S. coal companies that used the same playbook. They transferred old mines in need of cleanup to smaller operators with meager financial resources, raising the risk that taxpayers, rather than industry, will eventually be stuck with the cost. And the very weakness of these new owners limits regulators' powers. Anything officials might do to enforce environmental laws - from issuing fines, halting coal production or revoking permits - hampers the new owners and could result in even less money to restore blighted landscapes.