In efforts to make the U.S. energy independent of overseas hostile and unstable suppliers, coal will play a big part. As is often said, the U.S. is the "Saudi Arabia of coal," since the U.S. has the largest reserves of coal in the world. As drilling offshore proceeds (unless Democrats block that again) and other alternatives become commercially viable, coal is the rock solid base on which energy independence will be built. More coal is used to generate electricity in this country than any other power source and that is not likely to change soon. Developing nuclear power plants will no doubt replace some coal-fired power plants, but they won't be active for a decade or longer. Natural gas is a cleaner fuel for power plants, but availability is constrained by pipeline capacity. And, of course, there are urgent research projects underway on clean coal technology. Why not use what the U.S. has the most of, particularly since there are established companies employing thousands of Americans?
Yet Obama has promised he will drive those companies out of business, putting those workers out a job. Once again, the media has neglected or deliberately refused to do its job in exposing the real Obama and his intentions. Listen to this audio from January of this year:
This is another example of Obama's extremist ideology driving him, in this case without regard of the consequences to energy independence, the cost of electricity, national priorities and the jobs of working Americans. Some 80,000 have jobs in the coal industry, with 25% of them in West Virginia.
And in that same interview, Obama also promised that "[u]nder my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket." So much for the working family trying to make ends meet.
Update: Mike Carey, President of the Ohio Coal Association, issued this statement:
Regardless of the timing or method of the release of these remarks, the message from the Democratic candidate for President could not be clearer: the Obama-Biden ticket spells disaster for America's coal industry and the tens of thousands of Americans who work in it.These undisputed, audio-taped remarks, which include comments from Senator Obama like 'I haven't been some coal booster' and 'if they want to build [coal plants], they can, but it will bankrupt them' are extraordinarily misguided.
It's evident that this campaign has been pandering in states like Ohio,Virginia, West Virginia,Indiana and Pennsylvania to attempt to generate votes from coal supporters, while keeping his true agenda hidden from the state's voters.
Senator Obama has revealed himself to be nothing more than a short-sighted, inexperienced politician willing to say anything to get a vote. But today, the nation's coal industry and those who support it have a better understanding of his true mission, to 'bankrupt' our industry, put tens of thousands out of work and cause unprecedented increases in electricity prices.
In addition to providing an affordable, reliable source of low-cost electricity, domestic coal holds the key to our nation's long-term energy security - a goal that cannot be overlooked during this time of international instability and economic uncertainty.
Few policy areas are more important to our economic future than energy issues. As voters head to the polls tomorrow, it is essential they remember that access to reliable, affordable, domestic energy supplies is essential to economic growth and stability.
