Coal Money And Violent Rhetoric Hold Appalachia Captive to Dirty Energy

[bdemelle]

While Rep. Gabrielle Giffords continues her amazing recovery in the wake of the tragic Tucson shootings, the coal industry and its captive members in Congress and the right wing media continue to talk about a "War on Coal."

The industry front group Friends of Coal issued "A Call to Arms" yesterday announcing the "Rally for Coal" taking place this afternoon at the West Virginia capitol and featuring the state's top politicians. Acting Governor Earl Ray Tomblin's office quickly labeled the "Call to Arms" rhetoric "an unfortunate use of words," but wouldn't confirm whether Tomblin had any plans to discuss the use of such violent rhetoric with the coal industry.

Read more at DeSmogBlog. <http://www.desmogblog.com/coal-money-and-violent-rhetoric-hold-appalachia-captive-dirty-energy>

[Nathanael]

1. What is going on in West Virginia

It seems as though West Virginia is one of the most reluctant states to consider developing new energy resources. Why is that? I understand coal has been a fabric of the economy for years, but there are other ways for this state to stimulate and grow its economy including tapping a different energy source: geothermal power -- http://energyboom.com/geothermal/its-hot-west-virginia-researchers-discover-1450-geothermal-wells.

I know it's not as easy as swapping out coal production for geothermal, but let's open up a dialogue about how to create jobs and stimulate the economy sustainably.