Coal's war on America.

We know that one of the major sources of the greenhouse gasses that are driving climate change is the coal the we burn to generate electricity. If nothing is done to change that, the all of the other stuff we might do would not be enough to reign in our warming climate... making 650 ppm CO2 much more likely than 350.

One would think that it might be easy for Democrats to pass some sort of climate change legislation. Well, it would if they didn't need the votes of two Senators from West Virginia, Robert Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, to stop what ever delaying tactics that Oklahoma's Sen. Inhofe has planned... and Inhofe has promised to block any attempt to address climate change.

We all know that Robert Byrd is the last of the old Southern Democrats and maybe the only one not to have changed parties. In fact, Byrd is older than sliced bread or band aids and even voted against the Civil Rights Act in 1964. That is the kind of Democrat he is.

This connection of West Virginia and coal and the political power they have makes a very long story and one that points to a lot that is wrong in this country in these times. Perhaps no one documents this better than Ken Ward Jr., a reporter for the Charleston WV Gazette and the owner of their Coal Tatoo blog. I have been following @kenwardjr on twitter and two tweets today are very interesting, worth everyone's attention even if your previous view of West Virginia ended with John Denver's Country Roads.

Click Read more! below for the real dirt and slag.


The first was a bit of a surprise. WV's coal interests are pretty well protected in the House of Representatives. Nick Rahall (WV-03 Dem.) is currently the Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resource and any mining regulations have to go through his committee. I will admit that Rahall is better than he predecessor, my own ex-Congressman Richard Pombo. But he has still been described as a "whore for coal."

Then I was surprised when one of Ward's tweets pointed me to a story on a primary opponent for Rahall.

Delegate Ralph Rodighiero of Logan filed pre-candidacy papers Friday that allow him to raise money for a possible primary challenge in the state's 3rd Congressional district.

The 46-year-old legislator says coal industry figures approached him several months ago, encouraging him to run. They are upset with the Obama administration's handling of mining permits.

It appears that maybe the "whore for Coal" is taking the votes but not putting out.

The Obama Administration is beginning to challenge mining permits and even appears to be willing to have the EPA go to court over Clean Water Act violations from mining operations and Rahall has not been able to block it. This is what happens when you don't jump through the master's hoop.

We know how much coal, and especially Massey Energy controls WV politics. After all, there was a recent trial where the Chief Justice of the WV Supreme Court had to recuse himself after it was revealed that he had been wined and dined on the French Riviera by Massey Energy's CEO Don Blankenship.

The mention of Blankenship ties to the next item I picked up from Ward. It seems that Blankenship and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are scheduled to debate the future of coal at an energy forum sponsored the University of Charleston. We have seen the way Blankenship operates. This is what Kennedy thinks:

In a column in The Washington Post in March, Kennedy referred to mountaintop removal coal mining(MTR) as "the greatest environmental tragedy ever to befall our nation."

"This radical form of strip mining has already flattened the tops of 500 mountains, buried 2,000 miles of streams, devastated our country's oldest and most diverse temperate forests, and blighted landscapes famous for their history and beauty," he wrote.

It is the ability of Corporations like Massey Energy with CEO's like Blankenship, to manipulate the political process for their own gains... and of course to protect the jobs of all of their workers, as they will tell you... that makes the prospect for meaningful action against climate change so dim. Even the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce has called for Byrd and Rockefeller to block health care legislation over actions to clean up the coal industry. Unfortunately, Byrd and Rockefeller are in a position to do just that.

Obama promised us a change. We are beginning to see a little, with the EPA, for the first time, actually going to take a look at Massey Energy's latest MTR operation as Coal River Mountain. This would never have happened in a Bush administration. But, it is far too little and far too late.

We don't think a lot about coal out here in California. We had better start doing it, our children's lives may depend on it.

Coal runs America... into the ground.

If you know much at all about the political strength of the coal industry, this article in the Phoenix Sun will not surprise you, but is till worth the read to reinforce the knowledge that a blatant 19th Century Robber Baron mentality that is still at work in the US, wrapped in the American Flag.

If you have not paid any attention to this, then it is all the more reason for your to spend some time thinking about the ramifications of Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship addressing a rally in his red, white and blue shirt and introducing pro-coal coloring books into the curriculum for West Virginia's elementary school children.

Several years ago, David Cobb wrote an OpEd for the Eureka Times Standard, commenting on a right wingnut speaker named Holly Swanson whose day job was going around the country railing at all things good and Green. I quote:

Approximately 60 folks attended to hear a diatribe that included an allegation that the Green Party was engaged in a concerted effort to “brainwash” children to respect the earth. Swanson went so far as to accuse the Greens of being just like the Nazi Party of fascist Germany.

Doesn't that sound just like Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck today, or the tea bagger venting their wrath on Obama as their target of opportunity.

So, here is a big cheer to Dana Silvernail who actually may be Holly Swanson's worst nightmare, a Green who actually won a seat the board of the Northern Humboldt Union High School District. As I wrote in a congratulatory note to Dana, "All you need to do is have students who respect the truth."

The Phoenix Sun article concludes:
> If you want to stay up-to-date with news on the coal front, you’re in luck. Ken Ward, Jr., the dean of American coal reporters, writes a blog for the Charleston (WV) Gazette called The Coal Tattoo. Read it and weep. And then organize.
I keep up to date by following @Jenwardjr on Twitter.

We don't think much about coal in California. The mines we once had (Parkfield, for example) have long since been abandoned. But we do need to think about where this country is headed and how very effective Coal is at controlling what we do. For example, did you know the the Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, Nick Rahall, represents the 3rd District of West Virgina which is truly ground zero for mountain top removal mining. You wonder why we can't get anything done?

You may also wonder why the Democrats are so hesitant to push for a climate change bill, or that the bill currently under consideration in the Senate - known as Kerry-Boxer - has so much provision for the future use of coal? Well, both of the Senators from WV, Robert Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, are Dems and taking away their votes would make sure that an Republican filibuster, already promised by Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe, would be sustained.

I agree with the Phoenix Sun, Read this and weep. Weep for the mountains that will never be again. Weep for the citizens of Rahall's district who have no other options, whose one last public opportunity to change Coal River Mountain from a toxic cleanup site into a jobs and energy producing windcatcher has been blasted away. Then organize. If you can do nothing else, the next time you feel like a cup of coffee or a soft drink, take the money you would have spent and donate it to the West Virginia Mountain Party.

Front line in the war on the climate

We seem to have declared war on the climate and appear to be winning, for a change. The front line in this war is in West Virginia and Obama is sending all of our troops to Afghanistan.

Please read this post by Bo Webb over at Grist. It tells you what is happening on to the ground. Then call Sen. Boxer's office (202) 224-3553 and tell her that enough is enough.  She put her name on a bill that is supposed to be about stopping climate change.  She even put out a video  to rouse up her supports are some timely house parties.  But, she does not have the guts to tell her fellow Democratic Senators Rockefeller and Byrd that there will be nothing for coal.

Then follow Bo Webb's example and send a message to Obama that he can not represent my country in Copenhagen if he allows this to continue.

This is not an environmental issue.  It is a justice issue: social justice, economic justice, ecological justice.  Boxer has proven that she can count to 60, but she needs to learn to count to 350.