Abstract
This final report gives projections based on a series of assumptions concerning past trends, current developments, and future possibilities. One such trend is that the demand for energy in the U.S. economy will continue to increase each year at a rate sufficient to put a strain on current sources of energy, of which coal is one. A current development is the impact upon the coal industry of the higher health and safety standards which have been required by the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969. This legislation is significantly increasing the manpower requirements for coal production in underground mines. A future possibility which could drastically alter the manpower requirements in coal is the enactment of federal legislation regulating or eliminating strip mining. On the manpower side, one trend is practically inevitable, namely, the phasing out of the older workers who have reached or are approaching retirement age and recruitment and training of new workers.
