Trying to dig a little deeper on coal in the races for president and U.S. Senate
SunCoke Energy’s Jewell Operations, a.k.a. Jewell Smokeless, just outside Grundy. Photo by Stephanie Klein-Davis | The Roanoke Times
Two years ago I put more than 600 miles on my car during a day-long trip down to Southwest Virginia for a story on the role of coal in the 2010 midterm congressional battle for the 9th District between 28-year Democratic incumbent Rick Boucher and Republican challenger Morgan Griffith.
This year, it seems that coal has achieved an even greater role in the race for between Democratic incumbent President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney. So I spent several hours on the phone talking to experts and people who work in the coal industry and the related “domino” industries that spin off of it. And then last week, photographer Stephanie Klein-Davis and I traveled to Buchanan County to talk to more people about the industry and the election.
The resulting story (which was cut substantially from what I initially wrote) ran today on the front page of the Roanoke Times. I tried to untangle international market forces, federal regulations, policy proposals and rhetoric to understand what’s actually happening in and around the coal industry. There’s only so much you can achieve in a daily newspaper story, though, so I’d argue I didn’t succeed in that goal.
I did want to pass along the links for the energy policies of the candidates in the presidential and senate races for readers who want to dig a little deeper. If a candidate posted a PDF with more detailed policy points, I tried to use that instead of the general points they include on these pages.
Presidential race:
- Barack Obama
- Mitt Romney
Senate race:
- George Allen
- Tim Kaine
As always, we invite your thoughts and comments, both on the story and the issue.
– Mason Adams
October 22, 2012 - 3:38 PM
“people who work in the coal industry and the related “domino” industries that spin off of it.”
Yep…here’s that “domino theory” in action today:
“Norfolk Southern Corp., citing declines in coal traffic, has announced plans to lay off 200 workers across its Roanoke-based Virginia division and its Bluefield, W.Va.,-based Pocahontas division.”
http://www.roanoke.com/news/breaking/wb/315682
Here’s some more context to Mason’s story, in particular this line:
“Not one person interviewed around Grundy and Oakwood on a reporting trip last week said they supported Obama’s bid for re-election.”
Here’s what strikes me about that line: Yes, it’s true that Obama lost Buchanan County last time around — which was unusual enough for a Democrat. John Kerry carried Buchanan County in 2004 in a losing effort in Virginia. Yet Obama didn’t get blown out in Buchanan County in 2008. He lost there, but only by 478 votes countywide. So Mason’s reporting — which albeit isn’t a scientific poll — would suggest that Obama could run well below his 2008 totals there.
– Dwayne Yancey, senior editor.
More context:
There are signs for Obama, and not just in rights-of-way, so he does have supporters. But no one I spoke to on that reporting trip told me they planned to vote for him. Support for Romney was still a little squishy, but people seemed to buy into him more than Obama.
It might be worth going back to look at Dwayne’s analysis of the 2010 election results for a discussion point. Lots and lots of differences in the dynamics here, but it’s a good jump-off point for conversation about this.
And finally, I didn’t report this because the guy didn’t want to go on the record with his name, but I did talk to a former miner who told me he thought the federal regulations on mines were *too loose* under President George W. Bush, citing the explosion at the Sago Mine, but that under Obama the EPA had gone too far in the other direction. I don’t know that conversation means anything for how the populace at large feels, but it was an interesting sidenote.
– Mason Adams
I get it, miners believe what they are told. Like the bosses letters to employees making the rounds “explaining” the repercussions of voting for Obama. They believe the EPA is to blame and by extension Obama. Never mind the cyclical nature of coal mining, the heavy competition from cheaper and cleaner natural gas and the cost to profit ratio the owners of the land can sit on their fat bank accounts and wait on. I hope Romney helps you out in your unemployment he will not change. Goof luck sleeping with that partner.
#1 Of course, OR, if you read more elsewhere, you’d discover that cheap natural gas and lower international demand are two reasons. Please tell us all about how those are Obama’s fault.
“But no one I spoke to on that reporting trip told me they planned to vote for him.”
Well, duh. When mine owners are closing down for the day and forcing their workers to appear unpaid in Romney campaign commercials what do you expect? “Sure, boss, I’m votin’ for Obama!!” Where is your coverage of Larry Sabato’s bombshell?
5 – Show me in #1 where I said it was Obama’s fault. Oh yeah…I didn’t.
But I will say now – the EPA and Obama’s policies are a contributing factor.
5 – As for “cheap natural gas”…once the left is finished with the demolition of the coal industry (and those who depend on it for a living)…they’ll turn more of their attention to natural gas and fracking. It won’t be “cheap” very long.
#7 Well OR, all we need do is look to your comment in #8 to see where your sentiments lie. Please don’t be so disingenuous. Just go ahead and own what we all know you meant.
#7 Oh, and BTW, if you really DON’T blame Obama, then congrats.
I hope the decisions and funding affecting far SWVA’s needs in the future mirror the attention it’s receiving in the current campaigns. Newsflash, they will not. Richmond and Washington don’t care about the region any more now than they have. They’re using the region as a campaign gimmick and the suckers are being taken in. Far SWVA will remain the poorest, slowest growing, least educated region (per capita) until real change occurs. Neither Romney, Obama, Griffith, Flaccavento, Allen, nor Kaine changes anything there.
Obama, through regulation, is artifcially steering energy where he wants to take it and the taxpayers are the ones who will suffer. He is on record in 2008 as saying that with his policies “electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket”.
Part of this ‘steering’ (as he repeated again last night he would do) is to invest OUR money in companies where HE and his campaign bundlers see fit.
Rick, it won’t. That is the saddest part of all when using props in political ads and primping for votes. Like I said, until you see the mine owners, selling their interests and leaving town, call this one what it is. A ploy.
Funny how “cap and trade” is long dead, and the Obama quote about the end result of it, is so long lived. The ends justify the means for all right wingers.
“The ends justify the means” is not from the ‘right wing’, it actually came from Saul Alinsky.
Oh do you mean the Saul Alinsky whose book the so called “TEA Party” gives “to its top leadership members. A shortened guide called “Rules for Patriots” is distributed to its entire network“. That Saul Alinsky?
I believe the premise for the saying is credited to Niccolo Machiavelli in the 1500′s when he said “in the actions of all men…when there is no impartial arbiter, one must consider the final result.”
If it is good enough for the right, why not the left?
No, I mean the Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals” that this generation of lefties in office grew up with under their dorm pillow.
Since you want to quote Machiavelli, the book you are referring to was directed to the Haves who wanted to hold on to power.
Alinsky, a community organizer, (sound familiar) took that premise and applied to the Have-Nots on how to take said power away in “Rules for Radicals”. The ten rules have been the playbook for the left since the early 70′s.
I was not aware that the Tea Party’s “Rules for Patriots” was written by Saul Alinsky – are you quite certain about this, Sandi? I do know, however, that Dick Armey is giving away copies of the left’s playbook “Rules for Radicals” to the Tea Party to help them understand where the left is coming from.
Kathie, what Sandi is saying is precisely what you read on the Wikipedia entry you just regurgitated. They hijacked Alinsky’s work and use it for themselves. Why? Because it works.
I wonder why they don’t avail themselves of an interesting and instructive book written by one of their own? Maybe it would be helpful if the right developed its own “community organizing” rubric. Ooops… just made myself giggle.
It’s called “fighting fire with fire”. The “rules” should be the same for both sides.
Kristen, the only thing that makes me regurgitate is the direction our country has turned to under this administration. Attack the messenger – you know the plays too!
How can any decent person fight this fire with fire, The Other Rick.
Check this out and tell me the (D)’s are fine and upstanding in Virginia.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT77qP2Nai8&feature=youtu.be
Little Moran has resigned in disgrace. Hope his slime ball Dad gets removed from Washington as a result of their unethical issues.
Kathie has been huffing way too much Foxygen.
22 – Thanks for that link. I hadn’t heard anything about this story yet. Gee, I wonder why? Oh yeah – it involved a Democrat.
A sitting Dem congressman’s own son, and (now former) Field Director of his campaign, caught on videotape conspiring to commit voter fraud. If Moran were a Republican, this would be front page news for days. But since he’s not, “move along, nothing to see here…”
Where’s the story, and the editorial condemning this garbage? The RTEB certainly jumped right on that Rockingham County case involving the registration forms, didn’t they? Of course, that one involved the GOP.
22 – Here’s more on that story:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/jim-morans-son-resigns-campaign-amid-video-furor/2012/10/24/95ea4a56-1e23-11e2-b647-bb1668e64058_story.html
I love how it takes the Post until the 8th paragraph to note Moran’s party affiliation. Had he been a Republican, it would most likely have been in the headline. But at least they reported it.