| The piece is classic Blankenship, again trying to portray the science of global warming as an elaborate conspiracy by government-funded scientists (with their fancy book learnin'), university researchers and Al Gore (see a pattern emerging here?) to amass a fortune and turn the economy over to China...or something like that.
Blankenship, as usual, throws out the long-discredited rightwing claim that the world is cooling and also offers us this gem:
"Well, I can assure Mr. Burger that my views on climate change are not driven by personal concerns. I'll be OK if climate change legislation passes, but I am worried about who gets hurt: coal miners, all West Virginians, all Americans and our children and grandchildren. There is no doubt about that."
Yes, Blankenship is actually asking us to buy the idea that everything he's doing is based on his massive concern for the welfare of miners and all West Virginians.
And, at the same time, we're supposed to ignore his company's long history of safety violations, or the fact that he built his career by busting unions and lowering standards and worsening conditions for the industry.
And we're supposed to listen to him crow about saving "Appalachian jobs," but not pay attention to his efforts to try to save a buck by changing the rules to import workers from countries with even lower standards.
There's a reason why Massey just gave Blankenship a big, fat raise and it's not because he cares about West Virginia.
You can find no better example of Blankenship's method of operation than the 1986 film "Mine War on Blackberry Creek," recently posted for online viewing by Appalshop.
The video show a young Don Blankenship, acting as president of Rawl Sales Division for A.T. Massey Coal. As strikebreakers work inside the Massey mine, Don chats with the filmakers and vigorously defends his company's tactics against Appalachian workers. , He also stands by Massey's decision to do business with the corrupt South African government and exploit the apartheid system - at the cost of U.S. jobs.
During the course of the interview, he attacks Appalachia's proud labor history as one of "union terrorism."
(Somehow I don't think Matewan police chief Sid Hatfield would agree with this revision of the past. For defending miners from coal company thugs in the 1920 Battle of Matewan, he was later assassinated on the steps of the McDowell County courthouse by the mine owners' Baldwin-Phelps agents. The unarmed Hatfield was shot 17 times.)
"Stand up for coal" has become the slogan of the day, as the industry goes after political leaders who don't acquiesce to their demands.
This empty mantra does not specify what they're being asked to defend - interests of the coal owners, the workers' well-being or the reputation of an inanimate black rock?
Of course, the idea is to lead people to believe that they're all connected, though history shows us this has never been the case.
Like the coal operators of the past, Blankenship and his allies are concerned with one thing only: extracting as much coal as possible, using less workers and paying them as little as they can, while cheaply avoiding labor, safety and environmental standards.
-- And don't expect any of the money generated from West Virginia's wealth of natural resources to remain in the coalfields, either.
West Virginia officials need to decide whether they're going to take steps to diversify the economy and give the state a realistic chance at an economic future, or allow the state to remain hostage to the current system.
One path requires vision and forward-thinking. The other requires nothing more than business as usual.
Now, more than ever, is the time for citizens to organize and make the choice for them. |
