One thing to understand about the American coal industry is that, for many decades, it has stubbornly refused to come out of its feudalistic 19th century mentality.
It has bitterly fought all labor and environmental standards that, inch by inch, have been imposed by Congress.
Now the industry seems to be waking up to its unpopularity, and its interesting to see the reactions. At a recent “Coal Summit” in Bluefield, VA, Bill Raney, president of The West Virginia Coal Association said:
“We seem to be the only country in the world that treats our natural resources like liabilities.”
You have to wonder, why do they think that is true, when Europe has decreased its coal consumption so much?
One outspoken equipment manufacturer, Walker Coal Co. has this to say:
“It is troubling that coal’s opponents, using our courts and sympathetic political influences, have placed bugs & insects (benthic macro-invertebrates) at a higher moral standing than the citizens who need lucrative, dependable JOBS.”
That’s an interesting argument, but actually, observers have never once seen people in the coal fields arguing on behalf of bugs and insects. Their arguments have more to do with their children’s health and their grandparents graves.
It’s always interesting to see the coal industry attempting to portray itself as a victim.
“We’re under siege,” Mingo County coal executive James “Buck” Harless of International Industries recently said regarding the actions of the Obama administration. “There’s a mass movement against coal.”
Rather than taking steps to deal with the root causes of that unpopularity, industry spokes-people pretend that they are some kind of oppressed minority. They imagine that they are being persecuted over bugs and insects.
How hard could it have been to come up with more responsible and constructive approaches to the industry popularity problems?