Kentucky miners' struggle is that of many working Americans

[Bayard]

https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/455886-kentucky-miners-struggle-is-that-of-many-working-americans?amp=1&_recirculation=1

?itok=CxT4DxAA

(snip)
Many people in Harlan County, Ky., are poor but proud. The county has a storied history of militant labor action. The miners' protests reflect that history. These men have watched as some of their friends have been stiffed and their health benefits stolen by some coal companies that shift assets around various corporate entities. These miners feel they are not only demanding what they are owed but also demanding something better for their community from the powerful politicians representing them. On The Hill's "Rising," miner Collin Cornette said he expects McConnell will not intervene. "He's not pro-coal," Cornette said. "I don't even think he's pro-Kentucky." Ouch.

Now I suspect my progressive friends are thinking, "These people voted for Mitch and they voted for Trump, and they get what they deserve." What I'd say is this: Don't presume to know how and why and who people vote for. Condescending stereotypes are just as bad when they come from the left as when they come from the right. Secondly, the struggle of these men is the struggle of so many working people in this country who have no union to represent them. The minute we start picking and choosing the workers we care about is the moment we lose and allow the other side's divide-and-conquer tactics to succeed.

There's something stirring in Kentucky. The teacher's movement is still going strong there. The Republican governor, an ally of Trump, is unpopular and may lose his reelection bid this fall. McConnell isn't exactly Mr. Popular in the state, either. He consistently polls as one of the least popular senators in the country among his constituents. In fairness, last year he was ousted from last place by former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.).

[gratuitous]

1. Democrats aren't really pro-coal, either

Which is why our proffered solutions are routinely swatted away in places like Harlan County. We're not pro coal, we don't want more men and women going underground to take it out of the earth. We'd like to see Harlan County establish a new economic base, one that isn't dependent on an extractive, polluting industry that is so lethal to its employees. Can Harlan County change its identity, and find a new way to define its citizens?

[Duppers]

4. Exactly.

[Miigwech]

2. I disagree. They could have voted for Hillary

She had a plan to help the transition out of a coal economy that everyone knows is dying. They also could have voted like other Union voters across the country for the Democratic Party that supports Unions. "Pride goeth before a fall" I hope they will wake up to reality and not squander their vote next time. BTW, we know who the majority of coal miners voted for, trump.

[Coventina]

3. They voted for Trump. Fuck 'em.

On edit:

Trump was a blatant racist and they KNEW that when they voted for him.

I am not going to advocate to try and reach people who knowingly vote for a racist.

They are a lost cause and just need to die out. If they want to get black lung from mining coal rather than retrain for something else, again, they are not worth trying to convert. Because they won't.

[Bayard]

5. Missing the point, folks

They voted for tRump in the last election, when he was promising them to bring back big coal. Now they're seeing everything go in the toilet, seeing his lies. With their paychecks bouncing, and there are no other jobs there.

They absolutely need new business in eastern KY. But no one seems willing to make the investment except a Russian steelmaker.... THIS is the area we should be putting up Moscow Mitch signs! When a group of coal miners with black lung visited Mitch in DC a few weeks ago, he met for 2 minutes, and left. I don't think they'll be voting for him--or tRump--again.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-coal-blacklung/u-s-coal-miners-discouraged-by-black-lung-meeting-with-mcconnell-idUSKCN1UI18G

[RT Atlanta]

6. Quoted miner: Collin Cornette

Miner Cornette is featured in this interview here:

&fbclid=IwAR3xccvSRtTtkDX9xrNu_ZT84HSsT9wKqpqZzPaqyTvzmvzQBrGmtDT2Rsw&app=desktop

Goes in to a lot of detail on their challenge - I hate it for them and can only imagine the challenge with keeping your household going. I hope their protest efforts get them some payment.

Also hope Candidate McGrath will go and visit them and help bring some publicity to their efforts.

Transitioning to renewable energy is the future for our country....

[Duppers]

7. The Obama Idea to Save Coal Country

Great article...

"...coal from Wyoming costs a fraction of the coal from Appalachia. Even without the Stream Protection Rule, the Appalachian economy still needs to be remade.

...the Obama White House created something called the POWER Plus plan specifically to help Appalachian communities that were getting left behind because of the rapidly changing energy market. The acronym stands for Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization, and it proposed a suite of projects including to convert $1 billion from the Abandoned Mine Lands reserve—a pot of money that had been growing since the Carter administration—funding for projects to clean up abandoned mine lands, mostly underground, that are linked to local economic development strategies.

For Kentucky alone, that would mean $20 million a year for five years. The money would likely have gone to promote other businesses sectors like manufacturing and tourism and to retrain miners for new jobs like writing computer code.

This potential windfall was met with disinterest, if not skepticism, in the Republican-controlled Congress

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/03/the-obama-administration-idea-to-save-coal-country-214885


Another one...
Once and for all: Obama didn’t crush US coal, and Trump can’t save it
https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/4/28/15465348/obama-trump-regulations-coal

It's McTurtle who's killing coal miners by voting down bills that'd help them in so many ways.

[Bayard]

9. Both articles are pathetic,

Showing how rethugs continue to lie to their constituents, and how people continue to vote against their own interests. Certainly not just a KY phenomenon.

Obama's plan could have really helped people.

[Duppers]

10. "Obama's plan could have really helped people."

I thought that was the point of those articles?

[Bayard]

11. Absolutely, my dear Duppers

I didn't mean the articles themselves were pathetic, but the 'thug reaction to Obama's plan.

[Bayard]

8. What would be really great,

If industries connected to solar energy were opened there.