Interesting Interview about mountaintop removal mining in WV

[Steve Prokopiw]

I find it hard to believe that it is completely job neutral, and if it was, I would have expected it to be mentioned in the report since it would have made the argument favoring a less intrusive way of mining coal stronger.

The report, instead seems very biased and present only one side of the story.

in support of something so destructive and irresponsible as mountaintop removal be heard with any amount of credibility whatsoever.Responsible mining is more labor intensive;ie,more jobs.

[Beckmann AG]

Responsible mining is more labor intensive;ie,more jobs.

In light of recent events in both China and West Virginia, fewer operators 'safely' ensconced in large machines might be viewed as the responsible thing to do. The costs, in terms of human suffering, and employer overhead, are generally reduced with fewer 'boots on (or in) the ground'.

[davekempmeister]

MTR is criminal (not in the legal context). No one has mentioned the children killed (at home) by boulders that cut loose and bounded down the mountain into an inhabited hollow in close proximity to MTR operations. This to say nothing of the despair that is palpable when talking to older folks that are literally disoriented by the vast changes in the topography. Most of us, I think, get that feeling of "...you can never really go home" at some point in our lives. For me, it's been prompted by a new shopping center in the old neighborhood or something like that. Consider for a moment that the mountain that you hold dear were to suddenly have several hundred feet shaved off of it and it's peak were unrecognizable. All for dirty energy.

Where does Robert Byrd factor into all of this (I really don't know). Doesn't everything in WV go back to him in some way. On a positive note - WV maybe has the best State Park system of any I've seen.