The State Journal has an interesting article about a U.S. District Court judge who is presiding over an upcoming case involving a West Virginia environmental group that he once belonged to, although he said it has been at least a decade since he was a member of the group.
You can read the full story here: http://www.statejournal.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=45228
Check out the newest video on the Kentucky Coal Associations website. It's all about the Elk herd in Eastern KY. Very interesting indeed!
http://www.kentuckycoal.com/?pageToken=elk
How do you know when a politician is stupid? When he opens his mouth.
We hope you don't mind that we've modified the old saying, "How do you know when a politician is lying?" "When his lips are moving," is the answer. But no one is surprised with lying politicians anymore. Yet despite their worst efforts, politicians can still surprise us with astonishing levels of stupidity. For example, Maurice Hinchey, a U.S. Congressman from the great state of New York has offered a solution to the oil crisis: nationalise the refineries! Hinchey told a press conference in Washington, DC, "We (the government) should own the refineries. Then we can control how much gets out into the market."
Yes, yes Congressman. Simply press the "on" button and the oil flows. It's magic. That's the great secret the oil industry doesn't want you to know...oil comes from belly of a giant metal machine.
How incompetent are Western policy makers on energy? The first step on the road to incompetence begins with economic illiteracy. Controlling the "means of production" (to borrow a phrase from Mr. Hinchey's intellectual inspiration Karl Marx) does not guarantee that things actually get produced. It just guarantees lower investment over time and ultimately, a poorer country.
Real economic production requires labour, capital, capitalists, and resources. Capitalists invest in new projects because they expect a return. If there is no return, or the government threatens to nationalise the assets, you'll see a lot less investment. America is fast become a land that Vladimir Lenin would be glad to call home.
How big of a moron do you have to be to realise that oil is not "made" at a refinery? Technically, crude oil is refined into different types of fuels at a refinery. But oil is "made" by nature. To find it, you drill for it. Maybe Congressman Hinchey should support lifting the restrictions on off-shore drilling in the U.S. But then, that would actually help solve the problem.
Unfortunately, stupid politicians are not a uniquely American phenomenon. You have them right here in Australia. Green's Senator Christine Milne told the press, "Coal should be left in the 20th century while the rest of us move into a clean future." Apparently, the Senator wants us all to return to the Stone Age, where no one uses coal or oil and we all live in huts, eat grass, and worship cloud formations.
If the Greens were being honest, they'd call themselves the Reds. Good marketing though. Everyone likes green. It's not a colour you normally associate with Totalitarianism and the relentless meddling of the state in your private life. What serious analyst of the modern world would suggest that we can run our economy without coal? Does the Senator know that Australia gets 80% of its electricity from coal? Her comments wouldn't be broadcast on the airwaves without coal. Hey wait...maybe she's on to something...Hmm.
Dan Denning The Daily Reckoning Australia
Published in the Lexington Herald Leader and the Courier-Journal on Monday, January 7, 2008.
by Bill Caylor
How do you respond to emotional statements about coal mining that overstate reality? It's difficult. Facts are never pretty and never linger in our minds.
People living in the flatlands take level land for granted. There is no level land outside the floodplain in Appalachia that hasn't been created by man. These areas of level land will help to create a sustainable economy long after coal is gone. These areas will be the economic hub of Appalachia in the next 150 to 200 years.
About the airplane rides around the Hazard airport. Yes, there is quite a bit of active surface mining that looks exactly like what active mining should look like. What is never shown is the reclamation. Reclamation takes time and doesn't occur overnight. Some of the most scenic views are from the tops of older reclaimed mountaintop mines.
If you're going to fly over the coalfields, fly further east, west, north and south than the Hazard airport. Most of what you will see is untouched forests, which will remain untouched. Only a small percentage, 7 percent, of the Appalachian coalfields will be impacted by surface mining.
A coal company cannot mine land without the surface owner's permission. Typically, the first question an operator will hear from an Eastern Kentucky surface owner is, "Will you leave me some level land?" The coal company can leave the land level or return it to its pre-mining shape; the surface owner decides.
Even if the landowner is not fortunate enough to own the mineral rights, he is well-compensated. Typically, 50 cents a ton is paid for the use of the surface. That's more than $3,000 an acre for land originally valued at $400 an acre.
What was once steep, inaccessible hillside now has some level land on the top, wide access roads, ponds and unlimited potential for use. The landowner realizes increased property value. Ask any property valuation administrator.
Because of the difficulty of getting permits, coal operators have begun to return the land to its original shape (not leaving as much level land). There are only eight active mountaintop removal permits in Kentucky. Only two mountaintop removal permits have been issued since 2005.
What activists really want is the elimination of all surface mining in Appalachia, not the elimination of just mountaintop-removal mining. What would this mean to Eastern Kentucky?
In the 24 Eastern Kentucky counties, coal mining produces:
" 5,785 surface miners.
" 45 million tons of coal.
" $277,680,000 in direct wages.
" 23,000 trickle-down or spin-off jobs.
" $1.8 billion in gross sales of coal (73 percent is exported).
" $1.5 billion that circulates in Eastern Kentucky (85 cents on every dollar).
" $81 million in severance taxes ($40.5 million back to the 24 coal counties).
" Increased property values for reclaimed coal mine lands.
We have been accused of corporate greed, but we question when it has become immoral for a business to make a profit. Contrary to the public's image, coal companies are struggling. We're producing one-third less coal today than we did in 1990. If coal was prospering, that certainly wouldn't be the case.
Coal provides high-paying jobs and delivers cheap, dependable electricity. Kentucky has the fourth-lowest electrical rates in the United States, which is critical not only for attracting businesses like aluminum plants and auto manufacturing plants but also for our low income and elderly residents.
And, finally, our reclamation. Some favor eliminating surface mining. If this happens, you will eliminate future farms, airports, housing subdivisions, industrial parks, recreational areas, commercial sites, golf courses and a host of other actual uses of reclaimed lands.
You must have the vision to see the many positives and the unlimited potential of level land for only a small part of Eastern Kentucky. This is not corporate greed, not anywhere close.
Don't let your common sense be swayed by broad-brush, emotional statements. This is about the future of Eastern Kentucky, not about remembrances of the past.
So, as all the activists who so eloquently and passionately speak of the ills of coal and mountaintop mining get up in the morning, drink their hot coffee, eat toast, blow dry their hair while watching the morning news, attend their meetings in a room with lights and warm heat and write to their representatives on laptops and computers while calling others on their charged cell phones, remember what provides the electricity -- coal.
Listen to Steve Beshear talk about Kentucky Coal on WYMT's Issues & Answers. You can follow the link below.
