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OPINIONS
Voice of the People
Change council appointee process
As a resident of the Fairfield West area, I must say I have not been happy with the way things are run in this city. A prime example would be the appointment of the council seat left by Brandi Jones. I do not feel the City Council handled the process very well.
The interviews were conducted, and each member was asked to select a name. In my opinion, they should have re-interviewed the candidates/names selected and even asked for input from residents of District 5.
I surely hope Ms. Clements was a good choice for us, because this district needs serious help. If not, maybe council should re-think the process, or come election, we the voters should re-think our votes.
Diana Hudson
Huntington
Blankenship files frivolous lawsuit
Another frivolous lawsuit. This time, Don Blankenship is suing Joe Manchin for "chilling" his free speech and right to be critical of the Manchin administration. Where are West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse when you need them?
Every effective political activist is well aware that if you can goad someone of higher standing into attacking you, it will in turn raise your standing to an equal or higher standing. In fact, Manchin did Blankenship a real favor and helped him become something of a household "word" in West Virginia.
My first concern is that this is a waste of time, effort and resources that could have been used to the benefit of our state. My second concern is that newspapers are carrying this event as news when in fact it should be in the sports section.
Bill Morefield
Princeton, W.Va.
We must save Earth for next generation
This letter is written in reference to the Oct. 14 letter, "Mining destroys God's mountains." Whether one chooses to believe Creation is God's gift to humanity or if Creation is a wondrous accident of nature, the present generation has a spiritual and moral obligation to preserve that gift for the generations that follow us.
This obligation to be proper stewards of Creation transcends tomorrow's paycheck, next week's mortgage or even next year's corporate profit returns for Big Coal's CEOs. It is in essence the world we leave our children. Nothing is more important than that.
We are now seeing the impacts to their future. Our arctic ice cap is being threatened with irreversible melting due to the carbon dioxide we so foolishly emit into our atmosphere from burning billions of tons of coal and petroleum every year. If this practice continues for just another eight or 10 years, that ice cap will be destined for oblivion. And with it, Nature's fury will be unleashed upon the United States like nothing that has been seen since our species evolved.
If we are so stupid as to continue mining and burning coal like there is no tomorrow, no tomorrow is exactly what Nature will give us. Without that ice cap, ocean currents will change, prevailing weather patterns will shift and our arctic air will no longer be cooled from the natural radiator of the Arctic.
This is it. We must decide now if we're going to be "Friends of Coal" and go out in a crazed carbon-fueled blaze of glory, or dig our heels in, turn the ship into the wind and fight for the generations that follow us.
Melvin L. Tyree
Hurricane, W.Va.
Residents deserve better than coal
One recent weekend, I visited an awesome example of what our fossil fuel dependence costs us. At Kayford Mountain I saw not just the destruction of the mountains but heard from people whose health and livelihood are threatened every day by mountaintop removal coal mining.
Mingo County fought three years just to get drinkable water after theirs was poisoned in the industry's attempt to dispose of coal waste, and now communities across the state are facing the same plight, including a range of cancers, liver, kidney and reproductive diseases.
Residents in Boone County are subjected to so much coal dust that some who have never entered a mine suffer from black lung disease. I watched children play in the leaves and realized their young bodies are being exposed to the consequences of mountaintop removal pollution. They are West Virginia's future. They deserve so much better.
In order to end this devastation, we must end mountaintop removal and ensure a just transition for workers into a new clean energy economy so that West Virginia may prosper and our people may thrive. Conservation and renewable energy help more than just birds and trees; after all, who's dying for your cheap energy?
Briana McElfish
Huntington
