THE COAL industry is battling for survival.

King Coal has been dealt severe blow after severe blow in recent times. The Environmental Protection Agency — with the blessing and urging of President Barack Obama — has suffocated coal mining with ever-tightening air emission standards.

If such wasn’t bad enough, President Obama’s Clean Power Plan is the latest blow to the coal industry. The Clean Power Plan aims to curb CO2 emissions from electricity plants by 32 percent by the year 2030.

Moreover, the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, an entirely separate set of rules, aim to mitigate mercury pollution from those power plants.

With all those bureaucratic burdens to handle, it is a credit to the mine industry that it is still operating at the levels it is.

A local effort is being made to curtail the effects of the Clean Power Plan.

It comes in the form of the “West Virginia Coal 2015 & Beyond.” It is being presented under the auspices of the West Virginia Coal Forum, an organization representing both labor and management in the coal industry.

The event is set for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday at Oglebay Park’s Wilson Lodge. It is open to the public.

There is no telling how effective the coal seminar will prove. Only time will tell. But it’s worth the effort as countless mining jobs hang in the balance.

A strong public outpouring at Tuesday’s event is urged.

Coal means too much to the Ohio Valley to give up without a passionate fight.