Rockefeller's Support for Tester Liquid Coal Amendment

by: Clem Guttata

Mon Jun 18, 2007 at 22:59:45 PM EDT

There are many issues that Sen. Jay Rockefeller and I agree on. It just happens, this is not one of them.

Coal--even potentially cleaner Liquid Coal--is part of the problem of global climate change, not part of the solution. Coal mining practices like mountain top removal that pollute West Virginia water and foul our air need reform before we open up new markets for coal. Billions of dollars of government funding would be better spent developing new economic opportunities for West Virginians instead of reinforcing a trickle-down coal economy that benefits only a lucky few.

I note with irony what the headline states Rockefeller is fighting for in the Energy Bill: "West Virginia Coal." I wish he (and the rest of the West Virginia delegation) were fighting for the people of West Virginia instead of "our" coal.