Editorial: Coal and Our Future
by Mike Stuart, President, West Virginia Conservative Foundation
It is hard times for the future of coal mining in West Virginia in part because it is difficult for the industry to know who its friends are.
When coal is at the forefront of a heated and passionate public policy fight with Washington bureaucrats, battle lines are drawn between those who benefit from coal – workers, managers, investors and all Americans who depend on it as an energy source – and those who want to control it – government regulators, politicians and policy makers. Just a few weeks ago, U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd’s disappointing and surprising comments and commentary on the subject made things worse.
Senator Byrd has served West Virginia with unquestioned distinction over an historic tenure. He has in the past been a champion of working families and coal miners.
Unfortunately, our senior Senator has now departed from protecting working miners from the out-of-state parties that would shutter our mines and render jobless our families.
In his commentary, Senator Byrd said the coal industry is guilty of provoking public anger toward federal regulators. He said there are “rigid mind sets” and people need to be ready to change.
Change is what the coal industry has done for decades. Change and adaptation have been critical to the industry’s survival and the pace continues to accelerate. Coal is safer to mine, cleaner to burn, and better for the economy than ever before. New technologies are improving the efficiency and safety of coal mining every day.
Senator Byrd said that, “mountain top removal mining, a declining national demand for energy, rising mining costs…all add up to fewer jobs in the coal fields.” Really? Is that true? Surface mining does take fewer workers but they can be employed over a longer time period and, per man hour, will recover more coal. That efficiency works against rising costs. And the growing national demand for energy has only wavered during the current recession. Economic recovery will spur future increased demand for energy—domestic energy.
No nation has ever recovered economically with less energy. The United States needs and will continue to need more energy, affordable energy, and energy that does not challenge our national security.
Senator Byrd said, “Scapegoating and stoking fear among workers over the permitting process is counter-productive.” Does he mean alerting people to the fact that their jobs are threatened by over-zealous regulation?
It should be no surprise that workers and communities in West Virginia will vigorously fight for their jobs, the very jobs that put food on the table of countless thousands of family tables, fund our local communities, schools and charities. Should it be a surprise that West Virginians are willing to fight for their survival?
The Senator even suggested that by forcefully making its points, the industry will work against amicable relations with regulators. Amicable relations are good and noble but regulators should know they are potentially adversely impacting workers, families, and whole communities.
The Senator even says standing up for the industry might drive away investors. The truth is that if the industry will not vigorously defend itself, then who will? It is only when investors perceive a weakened industry waving the white flag of surrender to the regulators, politicians, and those defending faulty science that investors will seek safety in energy investments outside the coal industry.
Surface mining has its opponents, most of which have few ties and do not live in West Virginia but, let there be no mistake, coal has been good to West Virginia, its people, our families, and our communities.
Coal shall continue to benefit our nation and our state but, at this time, in this place, and under these dire circumstances, those in the defense of working families and jobs must rally to save an industry and a way of life.
Certainly the good Senator has worked hard on behalf of coal and the entire state of West Virginia over the past 57 years. Senator Byrd says “change is coming” and he’s correct. But what kind of change will it be?
If we do not want to be overrun by it, we need to influence it, guide it, and alter its course to the benefit, not the detriment, of our citizens. If we stand by, twiddle our thumbs and do nothing, we will most certainly be the victims of it.
God Bless the working families of West Virginia in these turbulent times and the contribution of coal to our past, our present, and our future.
A Rally in Support of Coal and a Protest Against Big-Government
The West Virginia Conservative Foundation is hosting a rally in support of coal on Wednesday, October 7th at noon on the grounds of the State Capitol. The Rally will be in support of the coal industry, which employs tens of thousands of local families, and will also be a protest against big-government and the recent actions taken by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Last week, the EPA announced that it was holding up 79 surface mining permits across the country, with 23 of them being right here in West Virginia. While some local elected officials like Congressman Nick Jo Rahll defended the actions of President Obama’s EPA, Governor Joe Manchin spoke strongly against the actions of the EPA: “Right now, my belief is that they’re trying to kill off surface mining through regulation what they cannot get done through legislation.”
The West Virginia Conservative Foundation has held several pro-coal events, with the main focus being against Cap and Trade legislation currently being debated in Congress. Our series of town hall meetings and rallies have attracted over 500 here in Charleston, over 200 in Beckley and almost 125 in Huntington. Future events are planned for Morgantown and Princeton.
Mr. President, where are the details?
Last evening, the President again delivered his speech sweetly and with passion but, again, we are left to wonder as to the details or the reliability of his assertions. In fact, the President himself indicated that all we need for healthcare reform are the details. Is this really such a small point?
Although the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has clearly stated that the plan to overhaul healthcare will actual substantially increase the cost for healthcare rather than control costs, the President again continues to maintain that the nation will realize literally $3 to $4 trillion in savings from his plan. My friends, saying it is so simply doesn’t make it so. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is probably a duck.
Again, the President continued to offer promises for which he cannot deliver. More specifically, the President promised that no person or company would be forced away from their insurer if they are satisfied with their coverage. Unfortunately for most Americans, the reality is that companies – not individuals – make the decisions on plans and insurers. The fact is that if a public option is more cost effective for your company and it opts to force you into a government plan, you, my friend, will have no choice but to get in line.
The President assured us that not a single dollar would be taken away from seniors or Medicare but, more than once, he claimed that substantial savings could be realized through cost efficiencies and the elimination of waste and fraud in, of all things, Medicare and Medicaid programs. Hmmmm…
Although our healthcare system is in need of common sense reform, we cannot throw the baby out with the bath water. We cannot sacrifice the good of the current health system to remedy the bad. We need to deal with the challenges of pre-existing conditions, financial ruin of families that face a medical catastrophe, and portability – these are issues for which we agree. Where, however, is tort reform and other solutions that clearly demand reform?
The WV Conservative Foundation urges you to contact your congressman and tell him/her that you support common sense reform but not a government run system and not a system that sacrifices the good to simply repair the bad. How can a system that runs the post office, Medicare, Medicaid and social security actually maintain that it can run a national healthcare system more efficiently than the private sector?
My friends, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Don’t be the fool. Stand up and fight to protect your family’s and this nation’s healthcare system.
Cap and Trade Town Hall in Huntington
The West Virginia Conservative Foundation will be sponsoring a Cap and Trade Town Hall meeting on Tuesday, August 25th from 6 pm to 7:30 pm at the Alumni Lounge of the Memorial Student Center at Marshall University in Huntington.
The event is free and open to the public to help encourage as many people as possible to find out how the current Cap and Trade legislation moving through Congress will affect West Virginia families.
Speakers the event include: Dr. Margo Thorning, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist with the American Council for Capital Formation; Dean Cordle, Executive Vice President with A C & S, Inc, in Nitro, and Delegate Kevin Craig (D-Cabell).
The even will be moderated by Mike Stuart of the West Virginia Conservative Foundation.
Can We Really Afford the Risk of a Complete Overhaul of Healthcare in America?
The WV Conservative Foundation strongly opposes the massive proposals to overhaul healthcare that are being debated in the House and Senate and promoted by the White House. After studying the facts and reading the proposals, the risks that our healthcare system will actually be worse after passage of either of the massive bills is simply too great to warrant the risk. West Virginians cannot afford the risk of the proposals. While we could support an effort focused squarely on state-based and state-specific reform, tax equity for families with insurance, and sound financing, the proposals being debated provide none of the three.
Admittedly, our healthcare system is not perfect. Fixes are needed to ensure that families are not forced into bankruptcy as the result of an unanticipated catastrophic illness, to ensure that insurance is portable from one employer to the next, and to ensure that a pre-existing condition cannot preclude a person’s ability to obtain insurance. What we do not need, however, is a massive and complete overhaul of the healthcare system, the growth of new and expensive government programs, and the insertion of government between me and my doctor.
A public health care plan would not improve the current health care situation and would likely make matters worse. In fact, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the proposals being debated in the House and Senate would cost at least $1 trillion over ten years and one Democrat aide suggested the total cost may exceed $1.5 trillion. Far from saving enough to cover the uninsured, it would increase the cost of covering even the presently insured at the current standard of care. A public plan could reduce overall spending only at the cost of substantial harm to patients.
All of us, including physicians, want to see the American health care system become as good as it can be, and most are willing to make sacrifices to achieve that goal. However, according to the Heritage Foundation, at least a dozen state, local, and specialty societies — representing more than 45,000 physicians — have expressed opposition to the current House and Senate reform proposals, and others remain undecided pending further discussion of key issues.
According to a non-partisan health care consulting firm, when fully implemented the number of enrollees in the public plan is likely to be 103.4 million, and an estimated 88.1 million of these enrollees would be shifted out of their current employer-based coverage and into the public plan. Between Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP, and a large enrollment of Americans in the new public plan, the government could control the health care of well over 200 million Americans.
In West Virginia, the average employer subsidizes the costs of the uninsured. If a government sponsored plan were available for West Virginia companies, why wouldn’t every company shift their employees to the government system at a lower cost? While the Obama Administration promised that no citizen would be forced out of their current insurance plan, most Americans are at the mercy of the decisions of their employer despite promises from Washington.
Although the current administration and the Democrat-controlled Congress seem determined to overhaul healthcare, before throwing the baby out with the bathwater, shouldn’t we at least consider the advice of experts that have reviewed the plans? According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), none of the bills contain “the sort of fundamental changes that would be necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal health spending by a significant amount.” This sentiment has been echoed by Michael O. Leavitt, the former secretary of health and human services, and a former official in the Clinton Administration who worked on the ill-fated Clinton health plan.
In addition to the absolute uncertainly of any cost-containment from the current proposals, as unemployment continues to rise, it is unfortunate and surprising that the House version of the bill would actually reduce employment. The large tax increases in the healthcare overhaul proposed by House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) would harm over a million small businesses, making them less likely to expand and hire new workers. The surtax included in the bill is 1 percent for joint filers over $350,000, 1.5 percent for joint filers over $500,000, and 5.4 percent for joint filers with over $1 million in adjusted gross income ($280,000, $400,000, and $800,000 for individuals, respectively). The House Joint Tax Committee estimates that the Rangel surtax will raise $543.9 billion over the next 10 years. That’s $543.9 billion out of the economy, unable to be invested in growing business, and at a time when unemployment is soaring.
While our healthcare system is not perfect, rather than a complete overhaul through a 1,000 plus page bill filled with sweeteners for the special interests, doesn’t it make more sense to deal with the shortfalls in the system on a case by case basis in smaller, more limited proposals? There is bipartisan support for ensuring family’s a financial safety net due to an unexpected catastrophe, to allow for portability, and to protect the insurability of those with pre-existing conditions. Let’s start with the basics before possibly destroying the most remarkable health system the world has ever known.
Please contact your representative in Congress today and tell them to leave your insurance alone and to stop spending your money on unproven plans.
Senator Rockefeller – 202-224-6472
Senator Byrd – 202-224-3954
Congressman Mollohan – 202-225-4172
Congressman Rahall – 202-225-3452
Congresswoman Capito – 202-225-2711
