Print |
E-mail to a friend
OPINIONS
Voice of the people
Pro-coal arguments make little sense
Letters praising the coal industry are becoming more bizarre.
One writer was "saddened" that people fail to appreciate the coal industry. That's insulting to someone having lost a family member to black lung or having a loved one crushed and buried alive in a roof fall. Who in his or her right mind would appreciate an industry that's responsible for so many deaths?
That same writer referred to those opposing mountaintop removal as ignorant people. He said that MTR is just a temporary disturbance. Before calling people ignorant, he should have read the federal environmental impact statement on MTR. Perhaps he did read it and now claims to know more than the experts who wrote it. Maybe he should read Webster's definition of ignorance.
Another writer's crystal ball envisioned a West Virginia without mining. It would be a forested mountain wilderness with scattered farms and people living off the land. He implied that it would be a terrible place to live, but somehow that vision is much more appealing to me than underground coal waste injections that poison people's wells and communities blanketed in rock blast and coal dust.
Finally, another went off the deep end and thanked the Lord for the coal industry. He said God put coal here for us to prosper. I've read the Bible pretty much, but I haven't read that.
Many Bible verses do address the consequences to those who destroy God's creation. I doubt God wants us to blast away his mountains. He gave us wind, the sun and other clean, renewable energy resources to use. Yet, incredibly, some still choose to worship the most destructive industry in the history of mankind.
Mind-boggling when I think about it, leaving me to conclude that coal is not the problem. The problem is we're nuts.
Bo Webb
Naoma, W.Va.
Killing animals isn't a 'sport'
Shooting fish in a barrel as a sport? Shooting doves that are naive to hunters early in the season while diving for sunflowers? They sound remarkably similar. It amazes me what bloodsport pursuers justify as "hunting" or "sport" and, to top it off, are proud of shooting one of the most gentle creatures in nature under such conditions.
This guy needs a less harmful hobby that would exert about as much energy, such as surfing the Net, poker or nature hikes. He would do much less damage to creatures that other people wish to observe and protect.
What's the rationalization here? Too many doves causing accidents on the roads? Too many doves eating crops? Spreading disease? What justification is touted in reducing the numbers of this "rampant menace," as hunters have demonized other animals in order to justify their hunting?
One reason I left my home region is the accepting attitude toward killing anything that moves for the "sport."
Sandra Koppelman
Daytona Beach, Fla.
Dems' values don't match state residents'
This letter is in response to one on Sept. 6. Most West Virginians do not support abortion, late-term abortions or partial birth abortions. The Democrats do.
Most West Virginians do not support higher taxes; the Democrats do. Most West Virginians do not support income redistribution to support more social programs; the Democrats do.
Most West Virginians want the United States to drill for more oil to bring down the price of gasoline. The Democrats do not want us to drill for more oil. The Democratic Congress went on its summer recess without even a vote to help with fuel prices.
Please vote for whomever you want, but I won't call you "stupid."
David Thompson
Huntington
