Chris Cline

Chris Cline is the majority owner of the private firm Foresight Reserves, LP, which owns or controls more than three billion tons of coal reserves in the Illinois and Northern Appalachian coal basins. .Cline also owns The Cline Group, a parent company to Hillsboro Energy and Gogebic Taconite. In his online biography, Cline describes himself, "[Cline] has developed and operated over 25 coal mining, processing and transportation facilities in the Appalachian Region and the Illinois Basin, including some of the most productive long wall mining operations in the country. Today, Mr. Cline controls more than three billion tons of coal reserves in Illinois and Central Appalachia."

As of March 2013, Clines net worth is listed at $1.2 billion.

Background


Cline's operations and lifestyle were profiled by Bloomberg Magazine in the October, 2010, article "New King Coal." The article discusses how Cline tried to distribute literature at his childrens' school suggesting that climate change may be caused by clusters of sunspots or the Earth wobbling on its axis, not just carbon. When the school refused due to lack of scientific support for these theories, he complained to school fundraisers. He calls coal "a moral imperative" for the world's poor, and describes Massey Energy's Don Blankenship, CEO during the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster, as one of the coal industry’s "most talented leaders."

Cline told Bloomberg reporters John Lippert and Mario Parker that "we in the industry probably do the worst job in the world getting out the story of the good lives we're helping people live. Changing that is certainly a big interest of mine."

"As far as the social acceptability of coal, I like to think I'm part of supplying the cheapest energy in America," he said.

Mining interests
In 2009, ExxonMobil sold the Shay Mine No. 1 to Macoupin Energy LLC, part of the Cline Group, also owned by Chris Cline. The Cline Group also owns Hillsboro Energy and has mines elsewhere in Illinois and West Virginia.

The following companies and mines have been directly or indirectly affiliated with Chris Cline:


 * Adena Minerals LLC
 * ArcLight Capital
 * Broad Run Mine
 * Buckeye Plant (coal processing plant associated with Gatling Ohio's Yellowbush Mine)
 * The Carlye Group (Carlyle/Riverstone Energy III)
 * Cline Resource and Development Company
 * The Cline Group
 * Colt Coal
 * Deer Run Mine
 * Foresight Reserves, LP
 * Foresight Energy LLC
 * Gatling Ohio LLC
 * Gogebic Taconite
 * Hillsboro Energy
 * Macoupin Energy LLC
 * Natural Resource Partners L.P.
 * New Elk Mine
 * Riverstone Associates - This Carlyle Group affiliate invested $600 million in Cline's operations in 2007.
 * Shay Mine No. 1, formerly Monterey Mine No. 1
 * Sugar Camp Mine
 * Yellowbush Mine (Gatling Ohio)

Digging begins at Deer Run Mine, despite legal challenge
In April 2011, the Cline Group began digging at the Deer Run Mine in Illinois. The early production is “development coal” that must be removed to allow construction of the underground mine. The mine remains the subject of a 2-year-old appeal of its operating permit. The appeal was filed by a group of landowners called Citizens Against Longwall Mining in early 2009, who contend the longwall mining method to be used at Deer Run will hurt farmland values, filing the appeal after the Illinois Department of Natural Resources approved an operating permit for Deer Run mine. The group argues that longwall mining will damage farmland by causing long-term mine subsidence. Brian Perbix of the Prairie Rivers Network/Sierra Club said opponents are hoping for a decision this summer 2011, and added that there is still time to halt the operation. Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman Januri Smith said the administrative review remains in the discovery process and that a timeline has not been set for a ruling.

Coal Transport
In June 2011, Canadian National Railway said it will sell assets of its indirect subsidiary, IC RailMarine Terminal Co, for $73 million to an affiliate of Foresight Energy and the Cline Group. CN also said it had entered a related 10-year coal transportation agreement with another affiliate of Foresight and Cline - Savatran LLC - to increase its participation in the growing export of Illinois Basin coal.

Foresight Energy has about 3 billion tons of coal reserves and coal production from four mining complexes in Illinois. The IC RailMarine terminal, which is located on the east bank of the Mississippi River at Convent, Louisiana, stores and transfers bulk commodities and liquids globally between rail, ship and barge. Foresight said it will double the capacity of the terminal to 8 million tons of export coal per year, with the potential for an additional expansion of 8 million tons

CN said it will enter the rail transportation agreement with Savatran LLC after the terminal deal closes. The coal transportation agreement entails hauling of coal from four Illinois mines to the Convent transfer facility. Under the terms of the deal, Savatran will ship a minimum annual volume of coal via CN.

Gogebic Taconite and Wisconsin 2012 mining bill
Chris Cline is the president of the Cline Group which is the parent company of Gogebic Taconite, a strong and early proponent of the controversial Wisconsin mining bill originally introduced on December 8th, 2011 with no official author. The Center for Media and Democracy 's | PR Watch article states "many had criticized the process, suggesting that no legislators were listed as authors of the bill because Gogebic Taconite was the true author." If passed, the bill will help Gogebic Taconite implement a 21 mile long iron-ore strip mine in northern Wisconsin. Even before the mining legislation became public, CMD found:


 * "Walker received $10,000 for his gubernatorial campaign, $8,000 directly from Cline and $2,000 from one of Cline's fellow mining executives.


 * "Cline and his cohorts donated another $29,750, split between two Assembly candidates and one Senate candidate. Many suspect that Gogebic Taconite actually wrote the bill that is currently before the legislature."

Gogebic Taconite also executed its own economic analysis reporting that its project would create 700 mining jobs in Wisconsin.

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Key private sector decision makers on coal
 * United States and coal
 * Longwall mining
 * Illinois and coal

Related PRWatch articles
Gogebic Taconite and Wisconsin Mining Bill

External articles

 * John Lippert and Mario Parker, "New King Coal," Bloomberg Markets Magazine, October 12, 2010
 * John Lippert and Mario Parker, "Coal's Comeback," Washington Post, October 31, 2010
 * Mike McCabe, "The Man Behind the Mine," Wisconsin Democracy Campaign Big Money Blog, January 13, 2012