The truth....even when it hurts.....

He is aging and frail, but Senator Robert C. Byrd is the only state politician who has the courage--maybe the only one with the vision--to recognize reality about coal and to make that reality plain.

As talk hosts, columnists, vote-hungry politicians and of course the coal companies try to pretend that we can change reality by stamping our feet and shouting loudly, Byrd says change to the Mountain State's bedrock industry is inevitable.

In his powerful opinion piece, Byrd outlines what I have said many times--there are several realities we MUST embrace:

1) Coal is too big a part of our energy grid to be done away with...even IF there were people who wanted to.....so we don't need to act as if the end-of-the-industry is at hand

BUT.....the other realities are just as important.

2) Coal is a dirty fuel. It is harmful to the environment in many ways. It contributes to global climate change (which IS decided science despite the braying of talk hosts and industry mouthpieces).

3) Mountaintop removal is a horribly destructive process. We literally blow off the top of mountains. We wholesale destroy God's handiwork in the name of making money.

We don't have to like the reality, but we have to acknowledge it.

Senator Byrd gives a clear guideline to the things we can do to move forward, from demanding more clean coal funding to finding new energy industries that can benefit our state. We can work WITH regulatory agencies like the EPA to minimize the impact of regulations that will be in place whether we like them or not.

As the automobile replaced horses, blacksmiths learned to adapt or become footnotes in history. I'm sure they complained, but they couldn't hold back the reality of change. "Gunsmoke" moved to television, but radio made a new future for itself playing music. Instamatic film isn't being made anymore, but Polaroid has digital cameras now.

The coal industry will change. We can work to manage that change or we can keep shaking our fist at the clouds and pretend we can stop the rain.

Senator Byrd's wisdom on this should be our guiding light as we look to the future.

Thank you, Senator, for being brave enough to remind us of the truth and to challenge us to confront it.

Comments

[Kate Quinn]

I could not agree more...I hope some of the hoppleheads including Hoppy read this and do just a little research to see that this is true. kate quinn

[cherokee]

I can't believe you people still elect this Klansman. But this is WV, and you did invent the toothbrush. If it was invented anywhere else it would have been called a teethbrush.
This guy has been out of touch since my college days in the late 70's. But he has been one of the best prostitues in wahington, dc.