Alpha Natural Resources cuts 168 jobs and idles several mines; Arch Coal cuts 117; TECO cuts 85.

So, what does it mean for Eastern Kentucky, where coal jobs have been the backbone of our economy, when companies begin cutting jobs and closing mines? Twenty years ago it would have meant that the coal industry is simply in the midst of a slowdown, and we’ll have another boom in a few years. Now, I’m not so sure.

Just a few months ago the Mine Safety and Health Administration said employment in the coal industry was up, the highest it had been in 14 years. But now, coal companies hoping to sell their coal on the open market are reportedly having a hard time of it as utilities are turning to natural gas as a cheaper, cleaner alternative to coal.

But Eastern Kentucky has plenty of natural gas, so as we convert our energy needs to this resource, those coal jobs we’re losing will be replaced by companies like EQT, right? I wouldn’t count on it.

Just last month EQT, one of the commonwealth’s largest producers of natural gas, halted the drilling of all new wells in Kentucky and moved more than a dozen positions out of the commonwealth and into the Marcellus region where there is an ongoing boom in natural gas production.

In the meantime, we learned this month that the Sierra Club, an organization that for the past few years has been fighting to stop the use of coal as an energy source while citing the environmental damage of surface mining and pollution from burning coal, reportedly accepted $26 million from natural gas interests for an anti-coal push for several years up until 2010.

Then we learned about hydraulic fracturing and the potentially harmful effects that process of pumping an unknown mixture of chemicals into the ground to extract natural gas can have on groundwater. Suddenly, the natural gas industry doesn’t look so strong for Kentucky, with companies pulling out and even the environmentalists beginning to deride the industry for unsound practices.

But then, there’s green energy, right? Just this week, Matt Partymiller, the owner of a solar energy company in Lexington, wrote in the Lexington Herald-Leader that Kentucky is losing out on jobs and revenue, and should pass a bill that encourages utilities to use more renewable energy.

There is little doubt in my mind that we should be investing in renewable energy, and to a degree Partymiller is correct, but solar by itself won’t replace those coal jobs, and the viability of both solar and wind energy is in question.

Dr. Patrick Moore, the co-founder of Green Peace, recently told an audience in Canada that wind energy isn’t the key to turning around our energy economy, and does more economic harm than good. On his website, Moore says that while wind, solar and geothermal can play a role, he actually advocates nuclear energy.

But again, where does that leave Eastern Kentucky? We don’t exactly have any nuclear plants in operation or on the horizon, nor are we seeing a boom in the installation of solar and wind farms.

Where it leaves us is ever-dependent on the coal industry. And while I am hesitant to begin sounding the alarm, it seems that with these initial cuts in coal production and the talk reverberating about the future of Eastern Kentucky coal, we can expect to see more layoffs and longer lines at the unemployment office, along with higher utility rates, as we begin to outsource our power generation.

In turn, we can expect that local governments will have fewer funds to work with in terms of coal severance, and people in Eastern Kentucky will begin to move elsewhere looking for work.

Despite any environmental shortcomings the coal industry may have, and they have some, that’s hardly what I would call a recipe for development. But that’s exactly where we seem to be going, and it seems we’re going to need more than a single piece of legislation to stem the tide.