Tennessee Mining Association Is Newest PACE Partner

PACE is proud to welcome the Tennessee Mining Association as its latest partner in the fight for sensible energy policy. The group becomes the 20th institutional partner to lend its support to PACE’s advocacy efforts.

Founded in 2009, the Tennessee Mining Association represents nearly seventy companies in mining-related industries across the state, advocating for the sensible utilization and promotion of the bountiful land and mineral resources of the state of Tennessee. The group’s members mine a wide variety of minerals in Tennessee, including coal, zinc, ball clay, aggregates, dimension stone, clay, and shale, sustaining about 100,000 jobs in the state. These products help support a number of sectors, including energy production.

“Mining is not only a vital part of our national economy, but a critical factor in producing affordable and highly reliable domestic energy,” explains Tennessee Mining Association President Chuck Laine. “PACE understands this, which is why we are proud to partner with them in their fight to advocate sensible national energy policy.”

In recent years, a combination of aggressive EPA regulation and low natural gas prices have threatened the diversity of America’s fuel mix in electricity production. PACE has written extensively about how, in the long term, an over-reliance on any one fuel source could lead to higher electricity prices and reduced reliability for consumers. Finding a sustainable balance of base-load sources electricity such as coal, natural gas, nuclear, while continuing to invest in other energy sources where they make sense, is key to achieving both affordability and reliability.

“We are pleased to add the Tennessee Mining Association to our ranks,” adds PACE Executive Director Lance Brown. “Their dedication to American energy and to mining jobs that support our nation’s industrial sector is a welcome addition to our already broad and diverse group of partners.”