CHARLESTON — West Virginia’s mountains, its people, and their jobs and health will likely be the focus of discussion between environmentalist Robert Kennedy Jr. and coal executive Don Blankenship, who face off in a debate Thursday, Jan. 21, at the University of Charleston.
The event, Forum on the Future of Energy, begins at 6:30 p.m. in Geary Auditorium and all tickets have been taken. Each side was allowed to invite some guests, and UC President Edwin H. Welch will moderate the event.
Another 2,000 seats will be open to the public for a live remote broadcast in Eddie King Gymnasium at the university.
The debate is a chance to flesh out an argument that’s critical to the future of West Virginians, Welch said in a release.
“The future direction of U.S. energy policy is a vital concern to the people of West Virginia, many of whom rely on the coal industry for their livelihood,” he said.
To Blankenship, chairman and CEO of Massey Energy, the forum is an opportunity to share his take on the future of coal.
“The energy forum is an opportunity to clarify what I believe is the right direction for our country’s future regarding energy policy, the economy and national security,” he said. “Millions of Americans are without jobs in this country, and policies supported by politicians in D.C. and activists like Mr. Kennedy won’t make things better for families.”
Kennedy is chief prosecuting attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper and president of the Waterkeeper Alliance, which advocates for the right to fishable, swimmable and drinkable waterways worldwide. He talked at length with The Herald-Dispatch about his thoughts on the dangers of mountaintop removable to the landscape, the waterways and the people of West Virginia, in terms of their health and the state economy.
“Mountaintop removal is the worst manmade catastrophe in the nation’s history,” he said. “It’s also an economic catastrophe for West Virginia. The coal industry, while promising prosperity to the state, has devastated communities across the state.”
He said mountaintop mines have resulted in mercury in the state’s watersheds, coal ash poisoning drinking water, ozone and particulates that sicken citizens with asthma and other ailments, not to mention global warming. Not one fish in West Virginia is now safe to eat because of mercury poisoning, he said.
“If a terrorist did these things, we’d consider it an act of war,” he said.
He said he’s never met Blankenship before and is looking at Thursday’s debate as a chance to “let the sun in.”
Massey Energy — which is based in Richmond, Va., and is central Appalachia’s largest coal producer — recently received a notice of intent to sue by the Sierra Club, the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Coal River Mountain Watch and the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy. The suit claims that Massey has continued to violate the Clean Water Act, even after a settlement in which Massey was ordered to pay $20 million for previous violations.
Meanwhile, Blankenship is featured in the current issue of Rolling Stone Magazine in an article titled “The Climate Killers: Meet the 17 polluters and deniers who are derailing efforts to curb global warming.” The article criticizes Blankenship for his reported denial of global warming and his reported record of bribery to “bend politics to his will.”
Blankenship declined comment on the “Rolling Stone” article and on accusations of violating the Clean Water Act. He also declined comment on accusations that mountaintop mining affects the health of the Appalachian people.
He did say, “I hope the thousands of people who attend and watch the event come away with a better understanding of where our country is headed and how we can make things better.”
According to the West Virginia Coal Association, nearly 166 million tons of coal were mined in West Virginia in 2009. That includes 97.4 million tons from underground mines, and 68.4 million tons from surface mines.
The association reports that coal companies employed 46,416 West Virginians last year. It reported that 14,678 of those jobs were in underground mines, and 6,249 were at surface mines, along with other coal-related jobs.
According to the report, surface mining produces 40 percent of West Virginia’s coal, while requiring much less manpower.
Kennedy charges that coal companies tout the jobs they provide in the mining communities, but are offering fewer and fewer jobs all the time because of increased automation.
Why is it, he asked, that a state so rich in natural resources — being the nation’s second biggest coal producer behind Wyoming — is continuously ranking so high in poverty, and so poorly in the health and education of its residents? He claimed that the people who benefit from the coal industry the most are out-of-state investors, rather than the people in the mining communities, he said.
“I’ve been to places like Whitesville, Lindytown,” he said. “These are ghost towns, where Massey has come in and bought out the towns, forced out the residents and plowed them under.”
He said he remembers his father, the late U.S. Sen. Robert Kennedy, talking a great deal about coal mining in West Virginia. Robert Kennedy Sr. and brothers — former President John Kennedy and the late U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy — spent a great deal of time in the state about 50 years ago, fighting for John Kennedy’s nomination to the presidency in 1960. The state became known historically for helping John Kennedy win that nomination, and became a beloved place to the family, Robert Kennedy Jr. said.
Mining is “an issue that concerned my father deeply that he talked about to me personally on many occasions,” he said. “My father talked to me about strip mining, which was on a tiny scale compared to what they’re doing today. He was terrified.”
Perpetuating the problem is that government regulators aren’t doing their job, he said.
“One of the things that Massey has done is corrupt the state agencies,” he said. “It’s a dynamic by which regulatory agencies become the captive spokesperson for the agencies they’re supposed to regulate. … It’s a submersion of democracy.”
When asked if he thinks there’s a middle ground and a future for clean coal, Kennedy said he thinks other forms of energy will alleviate the need for coal.
“I don’t think coal can survive in the marketplace,” Kennedy said. “I’ve been involved in a solar thermal company that’s building solar thermal plants in the western deserts. There are 120 companies now building these plants.”
He said they cost the same as a coal plant, but once they’re built, they don’t need to have a substance like coal to process.
“Now, you have to cut down the Appalachian Mountains and ship them across the country,” he said, adding that further costs are damage to the landscape, water and health of citizens.
“I think the challenge for leadership and industry in West Virginia is to look at the resources of the state and to start using imagination and energy to try to develop a sustainable future for the state, one that’s not going to leave rivers, streams and landscapes destroyed,” he said.
Watch the debate
The Forum on the Future of Energy featuring Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Don Blankenship will take place at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21, at the University of Charleston’s Geary Auditorium. Tickets for auditorium seats are gone, but there are several other options to watch and listen.
On TV: WOWK-TV Channel 13 will televise the debate beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Live remote: A live broadcast will be shown at the Eddie King Gymnasium of the University of Charleston, which holds about 2,000. Admission is first come, first serve.
Web broadcasts: The broadcast also will be shown at www.wowktv.com, www.wboy.com, www.wtrf.com, www.wvnstv.com.
