Delegate Nancy Guthrie, 30th District

I read a column the other day that proclaimed the entire Democratic Party was anti-coal. Imagine that, all of us Democrats opposed to coal mining. It was really quite breathtaking and news to me. I had no idea I felt that way. Standing back now I’d say the statement was quite a broad brush stroke, and once again another example of a disruptive minority trying to pass off fiction as fact.

I’m a Democrat and I’m not opposed to coal mining. I admit I find the coal industry often vexing. I wonder aloud how much better off our communities and people might be if the coal industry voluntarily reinvested their substantial earnings in modernizing their operations here in West Virginia, and invested in developing new safety and health technology rather than spending the money they often do protecting their right to be unreasonable in court cases that citizens and workers are often forced to file and very often win.

Maybe if the industry were more virtuous and voluntary in their reinvestment, our communities would be among the most contemporary and livable in the nation, coal operations the most modern and miners the safest and best protected. Who knows, maybe West Virginia rather than Canada might have invented and been using the mine safety chamber we all discovered existed after the Sago Mine tragedy.

Coal is vital to our economy in West Virginia. It always has been and always will be. But our stewardship of this rich natural resource stands at a turning point. Our economy is on the brink of being part of the national energy solution if new technologies currently in operation in Canada and Scotland take hold here.

Future jobs, prosperity for our communities and citizens depend on a renewed sense of purpose on the part of the coal industry. If during this century, the industry learns from the past and uses that history to wisely solve problems as good corporate stewards the entire state and every citizen who lives here will benefit. ‘Best in the World’ is a title the industry should strive to achieve.

So when someone suggests the entire Democratic Party is against coal, just ignore the remark as a wildly exaggerated claim by desperate people looking for another way to sell fiction as fact during the 2008 elections. This Democrat is pro-coal and not buying the anti-coal accusation.