"Had I known that this evil mountain, this alive mountain, would do what it did, I would never have sent the miners in here," Murray said earlier. "I'll never go near that mountain again."-  Murray Energy’s Bob Murray after a mined out Utah mountain collapsed and killed several miners and several rescuers in 2007. 

By giving “evil” intent and purpose to a non-living geological formation, Murray deflects the focus from his own excesses.  From the “Act of God” at Buffalo Creek in 1972 to the collapse of undermined mountains and dozens of other coal related ‘Act of God’ disasters in the 20th and 21st centuries, the coal operators always find convenient scapegoats for their greed induced screw-ups.

That Obama is both black and mostly politically unpopular in Appalachia makes him an even more convenient whipping boy for coal captains and their sycophantic apologists.     

From: ec-bounces@osenergy.org [mailto:ec-bounces@osenergy.org] On Behalf Of James Kotcon
Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2015 8:10 AM
To: Bill Price; David W. Sturm; Liz Wiles; Mark Kresowik; David Muhly; Bridget Lee; Seth Long; Sean Sarah; Daniel Chiotos
Cc: WV Chapter Energy Committee
Subject: [EC] Coal mines closing

Murray Energy and Alpha announce over 1600 mining job layoffs in West Virginia.  The story highlights the blaming:

"Murray Energy cited “the vastly increased use of natural gas in the Ohio Valley to generate electricity,” the “ongoing destruction of the United States coal industry by President Barack Obama,” and — for the West Virginia workforce cuts — the state’s “excessive coal severance tax.”

But Murray's move comes two months after he invested $1.4 billion to buy Illinois coal reserves.  So while he is investing in the competition, he blames Obama and WV's excessive coal severance taxes.  The WV Legislature (under new Republican leadership) is currently reviewing our tax structure, and many legislators seem likely to buy into Murray's blaming of Obama and severance taxes, without considering Murray's efforts to shift resources from West Virginia to Illinois.

I think we need to highlight this in a response as soon as possible.  The two major issues that the Legislature is studying are taxes and roads.  A recent roads report suggested several ways to raise money for road repairs, but does not appear to address overweight trucks, or fuel taxes.  I think an OP/ED connecting the two issues with the Murray efforts to drain ever more resources from our states to competitors might be well received.

Whaddya Tink?

Full story is at:

http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20150522/GZ01/150529712

Jim Kotcon