A "Dear Joe" Letter to Sen. Manchin on Coal

JW Randolph of Appalachian Voices has a message for Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) - "Arch Coal has a plan, and it is not you":

Well, I’m not sure how it happened. But it seems like southern West Virginia has survived its first post-apocalyptic, economy-annihilating, way-of-life-ending weekend after EPA heroically vetoed Arch Coal’s Spruce Mine permit last Thursday. As bad as Joe Manchin and Nick Rahall said life was going to be after the veto, myself and most folks in West Virginia ended up having a pretty decent weekend, all things considered. Heck, we even learned that despite the snow many if not most nearby residents are celebrating EPA’s veto of Spruce #1 mine.

Which leads me to wonder…has anyone ever been so loud and proud about shoving their head in the sand and ignoring the cries of their constituents and colleagues, the consensus of scientists, and the pleading of health professionals as loudly as Joe Manchin and Nick Rahall? Senator Manchin certainly hasn’t had a very positive first few weeks in the United States Senate. In fact, despite not taking too many big votes, he has found that his actions have already left him with a lot to apologize for. He set another high bar last week when EPA announced its decision on Spruce. Not only was his rhetoric irresponsible, but his information is just plain incorrect – particularly in asserting that EPA was “retroactively” vetoing this permit.

The whole post is long but definitely worth reading.

So Much for Byrd's Legacy

In the twilight years of his long Senate career, the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) became a strong supporter of climate science & the need to move to a new energy economy. Meanwhile, Gov. Joe Manchin is Big Coal's best friend, staunchly opposing clean energy & climate action. So which position do you think Manchin's appointee to Byrd's Senate seat, Carte Goodwin, will take?

"I'm a little reluctant to get into extensive policy discussion on any particular piece of legislation," Goodwin, 36, said at a press conference in Charleston, W.Va. "That being said, with regard to cap and trade, I will say this: From what I've seen of the Waxman-Markey bill that passed the House of Representatives and other proposals pending in the Senate, they simply are not right for West Virginia."

Wouldn't want to start moving away from coal, even though coal employment is plummeting, now providing fewer than 30,000 jobs total in West Virginia, Virginia & Kentucky combined. But go ahead, make it seem like pledging allegiance to coal is somehow patriotic:

Goodwin's position appears to closely mirror Manchin, who has also been a vocal critic of cap and trade, and the governor said that while there was discussion of the policy, there was no "litmus test" to earn the Senate appointment.

"I know he's fiercely independent, but I also know the love of West Virginia," Machin said of the new senator. "So it wasn't like a litmus test had to be given."

Who needs some silly litmus test when you already know he'll serve as Big Coal's #1 man in the Senate?

So what will Goodwin support? Giving away more tax dollars to Big Coal to fund the search for imaginary technology!

Goodwin did say he was interested in backing a bill from Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and George Voinovich (R-Ohio) to develop carbon sequestration technology.

Pro-coal West Virginia politicians like to paint themselves as looking out for the little guy. I know who they're looking out for, and there's nothing little about him.