A Commentary: Where Are You Earl Ray? And Why Is Biden Coming to West Virginia? By ROGER HORTON, president Citizens for Coal One week ago, the Obama Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency announced its “New Source Performance Standards” (NSPS) for “new” electric generation facilities. These new standards, if implemented, will effectively kill the use of coal as a fuel for electric generation, bringing any new coal-fired power plant construction to a screeching halt and essentially taking away the market for 60 percent of West Virginia’s coal. Following quickly on the EPA’s announcement was a flurry of news releases from political leaders across the state and country – both Democrat and Republican – who condemned the new standards as another effort to kill the coal industry and strip away remaining coal jobs. Here in West Virginia we saw news releases from Rep. Shelley Capito (R), from Sen. Joe Manchin (D), from Rep. David McKinley (R) and Rep. Nick Rahall (D). We saw statements from Attorney General Pat Morrisey (R) and even from retiring Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D). And while Sen. Rockefeller’s statement was weak and appeared to support the Obama EPA’s goals, at least he stood up for West Virginia’s coal mining families – calling for help for the people who are being hurt by the Obama War on Coal. Meanwhile, Capito, Manchin, McKinley, Rahall and Morrisey were clear in their opposition to the policies and their determination to defend coal jobs. It was a clear show of support from our state’s political leaders for West Virginia’s primary industry. However, one voice was noticeably missing and remains so today – a week later – Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin. We hope that Gov. Tomblin’s apparent decision not to issue a statement or news release (at least on any forum we can find) about the NSPS standards and the EPA’s new attack on coal does not signal some change on the governor’s part or signal a weakening of his support of coal. After all, he is a native of Logan County in the heart of the coalfields – a county where unemployment is at almost 10 percent and rising. We hope it is nothing more than an oversight by an overworked staff, but we can’t help but ask who made the decision not to issue a release? Why? We hope it has nothing to do with the visit next month to Charleston of Vice President Joe Biden, who has gone on record vowing that “no new coal plants will be built here.” Biden is no friend of coal. Biden is no friend of West Virginia and for anyone in the state’s Democratic Party to invite him to West Virginia is an insult to the 10,000 coal miners who are laid off across West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky as well as the 10s of thousands more who are laid off from jobs that depend on coal. Biden will be here Oct. 12 for the State Democratic Party’s annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Charleston. Apparently he is here to help celebrate the pending retirement of Sen. Rockefeller. Frankly we don’t care why he is here. He simply shouldn’t be here. It is a insult to every single coal miner in our state and across our region. We are hereby serving notice on every single Democrat in this state. It is your choice. You either stand with the coal miners of West Virginia or you stand with Obama and Biden. If you attend the J-J Dinner you are effectively turning your backs on the coal miners – many of whom put you in your offices with their votes. You are telling us that we don’t matter, our families don’t matter and you are casting your lot with and enemy of this state. It is that simple. If you go to this dinner you will have made your choice. And it is a choice we will remember next year. Where are you Earl Ray? Where do you stand on the New Source Performance Standards and why was no news release or statement issued? If one was issued, we stand corrected but it shouldn’t be so hard to find. If one was not issued… why? And if one was not issued, who is responsible and who will be fired? And for the Democrats of West Virginia… in the words of an old Union organizing song … “Which Side Are You On?” For us, know that going to the J-J Dinner is the same as crossing a picket line. And it is a decision we will remember.
Posted on: Sat, 28 Sep 2013 01:08:11 +0000
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