Fitch Ratings finds regulatory policies in part behind a downturn in the U.S. coal sector. File photo by Debbie Hill/UPI NEW YORK, Oct. 16 (UPI) — The mineral mining sector in the United States is showing signs of serious decline brought on by bankruptcies in the coal sector, Fitch Ratings said. “A spate of coal defaults has resulted from unsustainably high debt leverage from past acquisitions amid an environment of weak coal pricing,” Fitch said in an industry profile. “The low pricing and defaults were driven by over-supply of steam coal and metallurgical coal, burdensome regulations, and competition from low priced natural gas for electric generation business.” A federal Clean Power Plan set a goal of cutting emissions of carbon dioxide, a potent greenhouse gas, by 32 percent of their 2005 baseline by 2030, 9 percent more than in the original proposal. States need to meet specific emission reductions […]