72-Year-Old Miner With Black Lung Speaks Out For Clean Power Plan @ WV EPA Hearing
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — After more than four decades as a coal miner, Stanley Sturgill ambled into an ornate room at West Virginia’s state capitol Tuesday to deliver a stark message to the Trump administration: Climate change is real and continuing to burn the dirty fossil fuel hurts future generations.
He was among dozens of who squared off at a public hearing over the intended repeal of an Obama-era plan to limit planet-warming carbon emissions. The Environmental Protection Agency was holding the only scheduled hearing on the policy reversal in Charleston, capital of a state heavily dependent on coal mining. The hearing was expected to last two days.
There were warnings from the other side, too — that the regulations threaten to choke off livelihoods in coal country and drive up people’s energy costs. But despite the locale of the hearing, those concerned about climate change packed the hearing room.
Mr. Sturgill, who said he suffers from black lung disease, wanted the Clean Power Plan upheld for his three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. He and his wife drove several hours from Lynch, Ky., to speak because “we may be old, but we still love living.” “Now to be realistic, do I really think that the administration cares what this old worn coal miner has to say?” asked Mr. Sturgill, 72, who conceded that his pro-environment views were not popular in his hometown. “I don’t know. I really doubt it. But I had to be here, and as long as I can draw a breath, I’m going to keep working to fight climate change and protect the land and country I love.”
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http://www.post-gazette.com/powersource/policy-powersource/2017/11/28/coal-country-West-Virginia-Charleston-EPA-climate-change-worries/stories/201711280157