First, before we go any further, see the section below from an enviro blog about a meeting with Congressman Nick Rahall.  Now, can you imagine poor Nick?  I mean, there would be tumbleweeds blowing through large sections of his congressional district if it weren’t for coal.

And, those who were still able to live there would be paying triple on their electric bills and would have a gorgeous vista of 100 foot tall windmills with four people tending them.

So, this group of enviros show up at the office and below is the exchange from their website…

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In the end we had six people at the meeting: Bob Kincaid and his wife Annette, Robin Blakeman, Lorelei Scarbro, Danny, and myself.

We all met up before the meeting to discuss what issues needed to be brought up and who would be presenting them. I made it clear that I was nervous to speak with Rahall and that this was mainly a learning experience for me. Rather than taking a leadership role, I began the meeting by explaining to the Congressman the advances Marshall University is taking in order to be more environmentally sustainable. I explained the Green Fee that we passed last semester as well as our work with the Huntington Community Garden Committee. Danny and Robin thanked him for his support of the Omnibus public land legislation as well as his recent emphasis on green job development. Bob then introduced the idea of the CLEAN agenda, and this led into a discussion about a cap-and-trade policy on carbon emissions. Rahall is against such a policy because it will “send consumer’s energy prices through the roof.” Bob established some common ground with him, saying that he too has been confronted by people against the policy, but that he could send information about how inaccurate the increased energy fee would be—Rahall actually requested him to do so…

The conversation shifted to discuss water issues, especially concerning selenium. Robin pointed out that the Kanawha and Ohio rivers are being severely polluted and expressed concern not only for her children, but for others in the state. Danny directly asked him how he thought we could transition to green jobs, restating Rahall’s recent comment about there only being 20 more years of productive coal mining to do. He responded that President Obama’s stimulus plan should take care of most of it and specifically stated “clean coal” and coal to liquid options. Suggestions of renewable energy jobs were made, and Lorelei gave her personal narrative about her relatives’ and neighbors’ only job options being in the coal industry. She brought up the wind project and stressed that her friends and family could have good jobs much longer with a wind farm. Rahall acknowledged that he knew about the project and expressed willingness to consider the project as part of the solution….

my best friend s girl dvd download All in all this was a great learning experience for me. We didn’t get all the answers we wanted, but, as Annette put it, he was in a “testy” mood. The main tactic that I’m taking from this is to keep things personal. Lorelei gave her personal narrative, and Bob shared his empathy. Robin and Annette expressed concern for their children and stressed the consequences if something is not done to provide a future for them. We raised his awareness on a lot of issues and were given much more time than the original 15 minutes I was told. I think we should regard our efforts as a successful step in the direction of change.

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I don’t know who the author of this post was.  It was on some enviro website, but I think it was a college student.

How sad, really.

No wonder Rahall was in a “testy” mood.  The country is in a deep recession, the one bright spot in our state is coal mining and the jobs it brings and here these nincompoops are in his office telling their personal narrative of how they want 15 jobs and hundreds of windmills versus an actual mine that employs hundreds making  good money with good benefits.

Shrek 2 the movie I loved how he said “Bob shared his empathy.”

Goodness gracious.

I wonder how many meals Bob’s empathy provides for southern West Virginia?  I’m guessing zilch.

But, that’s what is important isn’t it, we can all share our empathy while Southern West Virginia goes even more jobless than it is today.

And, we can provide even less government services with the ridiculously low tax base Southern West Virginia would have without coal.

It just makes me shake my head.

I love this discussion of “green jobs.”  I wonder who decides what “green jobs” are?

Werewolf: The Devil’s Hound divx Why am I guessing it will be decided by people with TONS of empathy?