Byrd Calls for Revisiting West Virginia's Relationship with Coal. By Ken Ward Jr., Charleston Gazette-Mail, May 5, 2010. "Sen. Robert C. Byrd on Wednesday called for a reconsideration of West Virginia's relationship with coal mining, saying the industry can't be allowed to dominate the state's politics while causing needless deaths and environmental damage. 'Coal brings much needed jobs and revenue to our economy,' the West Virginia Democrat wrote in a new commentary. 'But the industry has a larger footprint, including inherent responsibilities that must be acknowledged by the industry.' Byrd issued the piece in response to the nation's worst coal-mining disaster in 40 years, the April 5 explosion that killed 29 miners at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch Mine in Raleigh County. 'As we seek to understand how and why the Upper Big Branch disaster occurred, we might also re-examine conventional wisdom about the future of the coal industry in our state,' Byrd said. The new commentary comes five months after Byrd issued another strongly worded statement that urged the coal industry to 'embrace the future,' by accepting the need for action to stem global warming and not demonizing citizens who want to curb mountaintop removal mining... And, Byrd said that... 'If the process of mining destroys nearby wells and foundations, if blasting and digging and relocating streams unearths harmful elements and releases them into the environment causing illness and death, that process should be halted and the resulting hazards to the community abated... The old chestnut that 'coal is West Virginia's greatest natural resource' deserves revision. I believe that our people are West Virginia's most valuable resource. We must demand to be treated as such.'"
2010-05-19
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