My name is Rick Nelson and I represent the coal producing counties of Harlan and Bell, which are in Southeastern Kentucky.
I am proud to let you know that my dad worked in coal mines for over 30 years to support his family.
Today, mainly due to actions by the EPA in Washington D.C., thousands of mines and mining-related jobs have been lost. The inability of companies to get permits to mine new coal has forced our citizens to go from drawing a paycheck to the welfare rolls.
In addition, the closing of many coal-fired power plants because of EPA regulations will have disastrous results for employment and will cause massive increases in everyone’s electric bills.
Do you know what the number one pollutant of streams is in Kentucky? According to the Kentucky Division of Water, citing a 2007 report, it is not mining, but agricultural run-off, impacting almost 3,000 miles of streams. But I do not hear any local or EPA outrage like is heard over the mining of coal.
Economic development is apparently in the eye of the beholder. I noticed at Exit 87 on I-75 and at the Frankfort exit there used to be beautiful farm land that has been developed for malls and parking lots. The bringing in of dozers was hailed as progress for this area, but not for the coal fields.
Finally, my message to the EPA in Washington is: set our miners free, so they can make a living for their families and produced the energy for America.
Set our miners free!
They know to do. They don't have a high school deplore they need to let the miner go back to work so they can take care of there family Dloretta57
Obama and every democrat in office needs to be voted out ASAP! We have to stop the Democrat Party's War on Coal! As Obama stated before he was elected, he would implement policies that would make coal too expensive to use and would put coal companies out of business. Get 'em Rick!
Wait a minute...What party are you, Rick???
But before she was fired for being a union member, she had both her feet crushed by a boulder. My father eventually left the coal mines as well, after he lost 3 fingers capping explosives.
My uncle Elwood was killed in a conveyer belt accident.
My mother's friends Rocky Peck and Ernest Sword both lost their lives in the coal mines.
My uncle Joe died of black lung.
So don't tell me about "excessive regulation." Massey has a sign on the wall about the "evils of unionization" and they fight every possible regulation. Because safety and a clean environment costs money.
These companies need to respect the EPA, and you do a disservice to our country by support these companies that treat our miners so poorly. Yes, miners will support these companies, because it's an income and they have to support their families.
If it were up to me, I'd start a green company down in West Virginia or Eastern Kentucky and start training our miners on how to do the work. Anything to get them out of the coal mines. But you wouldn't know because apparently your family hasn't been devastated by the coal mines, as many other families have been. Those companies do not care about your family or mine, or anyone else's.