ABSTRACT
As the economy, politics and social culture are continuously developing, the relationships between coal companies, communities and society are also changing from time to time. Those conditions that coal companies depend on in their daily operations changes, thus coal companies must seek better approaches to deal with the relationships with local communities. Especially in recent years, as more and more people have kept their eyes on the social responsibilities of mining companies about environmental protection and sustainable development, the conflicts arising between coal companies and communities have become more furious. Coal mining offers job opportunities, builds industrial bases, and boosts taxation and incomes. On the other hand, coal mining has many negative effects on the society and environment, i.e. widening gap between the rich and poor, poor working conditions, corruptions, damage to environment and to physical and psychological health of employees. Thus coal industry has received more and more
1 INTRODUCTION
With economic and social development, the requirement for energy is not limited to meet people’s basic living standards. Comprehensive utilization of energy resources, reduction on damage to the ecological environment and concentration on the relationships with surrounding communities have become a new trend. With advancement of industrial technology, long term and significant development has been achieved for coal industry. The consumption of coal has occupied an important position in the energy mix. As one of main energies in the world, coal plays a key role in supplying energies required for economic growth and social development, as it has large reserve, relatively obtainable and highly reliable to satisfy energy needs in the world (Kraft John & Lee Chien-Chiang, 2008).
