( - promoted by heath_harrison)
If a lie is stated often enough does it become the truth? The liar sure hopes it does. Corporate Coal has spent millions upon millions not only lobbying Congress but also inundating the public with a multi-million dollar and multifaceted propaganda campaign. Sitting on their piles of money, Corporate Coal has not only bought politicians, they have brainwashed the public. West Virginia is ground zero in this war for public opinion and with most of our politicians being either cowards or culprits, there is little leadership in the political arena representing the vast majority of us that demand a balanced approach to coal mining.
Coal Lies
Author Jeff Goodell's recent article on the strength of Big Coal today is disheartening as it is honest.
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/a...
Reflecting just some of Corporate Coal's expenditures, Goodell writes:
The first and most obvious way that Big Coal gains leverage is simply with money. By any accounting, Big Coal - and by that I mean not just coal mining companies, but also the railroads that haul the coal, as well as the electric utilities and power companies that burn it - exerts a huge influence not only in Washington D.C., but in state and local governments, too. The Southern Company, a large Atlanta-based power company that is one of the largest coal burners in the country and a longtime opponent of global warming legislation, spent about $9 million in federal lobbying fees this year alone - that's nearly as much as ExxonMobil, a company that is 10 times larger. Peabody Energy, the largest privately-held coal company in the world, spent almost $6 million.
According to an October article in the NYT,
Political spending by the coal industry is on track to exceed what it spent in the 2008 cycle, when the presidency was at stake and Congress appeared determined to move forward with a national energy policy designed to address climate change by cutting back on the use of coal and petroleum.
http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coa...
Goodell points out,
As of early October, the mining industry, which is mostly coal, contributed more than $3 million to federal candidates, the great majority of it going to Republicans. The industry backed up its contributions with a major media blitz - the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, an industry front group, spent more than $16 million on ads this year touting the virtues of "clean" coal.
So what lies has Big Coal been shoving down all of our throats? Here are just some of their more insidious fabrications:
*Lie #1- If you are against mountaintop removal then you do not support coal mining. This is lowest common denominator logic and further from the truth than a Don Blankenship interview but this association is made and no where more than in the WV Democratic Party. Not to worry, these cowards and culprits shall have their day. For the record, MTR is the most destructive mining technique ever unleashed on God's Earth. It destroys communities with floods, blasting, and poisons; covers up watersheds with waste and rubble; and poisons WV people, plants, and animals with heavy metals like selenium. I am against that. I am not against other types of coal mining. I want well paying coal jobs for WV as long as they are safe and not permanently and perversely destructive.
*Lie #2- Obama is launching regulatory jihad on coal. The National Mining Association's racist jab at the President of the United States underscores Corporate Coal's strategy of propagandizing citizens into thinking that outsiders are trying to come in and change your life for the worse. The reality is that this has already taken place. Absentee coal kings, hiding behind regional and local henchmen, have robbed coal producing regions blind, especially in Appalachia, especially in West Virginia. The regulations Corporate Coal complain about are meant to protect the citizens of West Virginia. Be it safety or public health, these absentee robber barons don't care about West Virginians- never have, never will. Corporate Coal would have us eliminate the already weak stop gap between them and scorched earth greed in the West Virginia hills. There message is effective and it is dangerous.
*Lie #3- They are taking our jobs and ruining our economy. Another whopper of a lie but one that folks sometimes go too far in arguing against. West Virginia does benefit from coal through employment and taxes. As a resource rich State, we were able to keep our State budget out of the Red during the Great Recession. However, let's be honest on what West Virginia is actually getting out of this arrangement. We rank near the bottom of every national fiscal category and allow billions in coal profits to leave our State, while only charging a pittance of a severance tax.
Beyond that, the number of coal mining jobs has dropped by tens of thousands thanks to mechanized mining. How many MTR miners are there really? According to the US Energy Information Administration, there were only 3,600 surface miners in 2007. Given that some of those surface miners may be engaged in other methods of surface mining that is not MTR, I am not sure what the real figure is. This is not to say that these jobs are not important, but if you calculate the coal that would be extracted via other more labor demanding means on top of other job opportunities that are permanently eliminated (wind mills, tourism, timber, etc) then I would wager you would find a long term net loss in jobs because of practices like MTR.
http://www.census.gov/compendi...
How to Fight Back
So in the face of this onslaught of propaganda what can folks do to fight for a more balanced approach to coal extraction in West Virginia?
Be tenacious- Don't give up. They may have more money but we have the truth and the resolve to defend our State, our People, and our childrens' future. It is like a street fight. When debating, hit the other person first and never stop swinging. Keep them on the defensive. Continue to blog, talk to neighbors, write editorials, call politicians, and organize. Continue to fight.
Have the facts but don't confuse the message- Have research readily available and cite it when debating. There is no need to come up with whopping lies like they do. Structure what you are trying to say and infuse a few stats to back it up. Always end with a simple branded message- I personally like "Our Coal, Our Way" because it goes right in the face of the opposition's message.
Push for a moderate, balanced approach- I truly believe that coal can be mined and used responsibly as a resource. It is those that would put their heads in the sand regarding the destruction of mountaintop removal or the long term threat of global warming for short term energy and profit that are radical. We need balance and balance sells with the public.
Stay positive and stay simple- These are both hard as hell given the tough subject matter but pushing positive solutions and being able to wrap your argument up with a bumper sticker line is crucial to marketing a political message. You can get painted in a corner on a coal debate by trying to be too elaborate in defense. Hit em' with your talking points and always brand your argument.
Hold folks accountable- Cowards and culprits litter WV Democratic Party leadership. Coal politics are cutthroat. These folks need to be strategically identified, isolated, and forced to defend their position. We have to be relentless, smart, and organized and we have to have one another's backs. I do not believe in single issue advocacy but we have to be willing to use political capital if we really want to make a difference in the State and in the Democratic Party. |
