Christopher Hopkins Elected to American Coal Council Board of Directors

HINGHAM, MA, January 11, 2013 (Press-News.org) Christopher Hopkins, senior vice president for mining and aggregates at The Saint Consulting Group, has been elected to the American Coal Council Board of Directors.

The Washington, D.C-based council represents the collective interests of the American coal industry in advocating for coal as an economic, abundant and environmentally sound fuel source. Its members represent major coal suppliers, consumers, energy traders, transportation companies, ports and terminals and support services, such as analytical, environmental, technical and economic consultants.

Chris Hopkins will serve as a representative of coal support services on the national organization's 19-member 2013 Board of Directors.

Among its efforts, the American Coal Council provides educational programs, market intelligence, advocacy support and peer-to-peer networking forums to advance members' commercial and professional development interests.

The Saint Consulting Group is an international political land use consultancy that helps its clients win permits needed for their most important and controversial development projects. The firm has U.S. offices near Boston, Nashville, Chicago and San Francisco, and international affiliates in Toronto, Vancouver, London and Berlin.

Mr. Hopkins oversees all of Saint Consulting's work in the quarry and mining industries. He has overseen projects in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom, and is a regular speaker on overcoming the difficulties of permitting quarries and mines before major trade industry associations.

Chris is also an adjunct professor at the University of Arizona, where he teaches a course about how to overcome community opposition and political hurdles when permitting mineral mines. He has been a guest lecturer at graduate programs in mining at several other prestigious universities as well, including the University of Utah, the Missouri University of Science and Technology, and the University of Illinois. His articles have been published in many industry trade journals.

The Saint Consulting Group specializes in getting citizens to participate in the public permitting process for development projects. The company also conducts the Saint Index, the only comprehensive survey that annually quantifies and tracks American attitudes about development and the politics of land use.