Legislative leaders say coal rhetoric not helping

[theHandpuppet]

Sorry about the source but I'll take the news where I can find it.

The Washington Times
September 15, 2014
Legislative leaders say coal rhetoric not helping

(excerpt)
...Hopefuls for an open Senate seat and two competitive House races have recited the same conversation: Republicans lump Democrats in with President Obama, an ever-unpopular figure in West Virginia. Democrats zigzag to show they don’t support his energy ideas.

It’s a simplified dialogue that ignores the larger forces determining Appalachian coal’s future, said state House Speaker Tim Miley and Senate President Jeff Kessler.

Natural gas is cheap and plentiful, coal seams have thinned out, domestic and international coal markets are lousy and other states and countries provide stiff competition.

“I wish (federal candidates) would talk more about how we are going to diversify our economy, because I don’t know whether coal is ever coming back,” Miley, a Harrison County Democrat, said Sept. 5 on the Viewpoint radio show in West Virginia....

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/sep/15/legislative-leaders-say-coal-rhetoric-not-helping/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS#ixzz3Dhra0wOZ

[A Little Weird]

1. It's refreshing to hear a politician say it

I sometimes wonder what coal country would look like if we'd had more reality-based representatives along the way and fewer industry boot-lickers.

[theHandpuppet]

2. I think we'll soon find out

The coal industry in Appalachia is on its way out along with the old way of doing political business. We need forward-thinking leaders!

[Staph]

3. I was talking to my mother's doctor today.

He's a Republican candidate for the state Senate in West Virginia. He said a lot of sensible things about diversifying the state's economy, bringing in manufacturing jobs so that our population drain, especially of young people, can be reversed.

There's no way I could vote for him -- he's a Republican, so he'll be forced by his party to vote for all of the stupid socially conservative stuff. But I'd like to see some West Virginia Democrats stand up for the same sort of expansion of economic opportunities.