It grieves me to no end what the Obama administration is doing to the coal industry. Prior to Obama's ascension to the presidency, Appalachian coal was still the fuel that propelled cheap electricity for American industry and households. Hating coal is like hating vegetables because they're grown in the dirt.
The coal industry of Appalachia has been competing with natural gas and oil for many, many decades. Our domestic coal reserves are massive and will continue to be mined because worldwide demand for coal will only increase. My younger brother is a manager at a coal processing plant in Pike County, Kentucky. He tells me that much of the coal currently mined in Appalachia is being shipped to China, Europe and South America.
The coal industry will adapt. Still, the loss of 6,000 coal mining jobs in Eastern Kentucky paying an average of $70,000 yearly translates to $420,000,000 in annual wages lost. Half a billion dollars in annual wages gone from the local economy. It's a staggering blow to Central Appalachia which is sure to enshrine Barack Hussein Obama's name just below Lucifer.
"Hating coal is like hating vegetables because they're grown in the dirt"? I don't think so.
Coal is beyond dirty - the dust cannot be contained, and it settles on and in everything: homes, trees, people, pets. It's hazardous for health and beauty both.
Mining is dangerous, and 'big coal' hasn't got a great track record at protecting miners from dying while doing their jobs, either.
I'm sure there are many who regret the loss of good paying work, but the price we all pay for the damage done in extracting the coal is just too high, especially for a nonrenewable resource.
My dad was born & raised in WV, and he was one of the hardest working men I've ever known, but he moved to Ohio rather than work in the mines, and a lot of others did the same. Even aside from the dirt and danger involved, they hated seeing the mountains spoiled for profit.
