I’m sure this is going to raise the hackles of some but to be honest, I’ve never agreed with coal mining or any kind of mining for that matter. To me, it destroys the world bit by bit and being a naturalist*, it makes no sense to do something so harmful no matter what the benefits. However, I’m not so insensitive that I’m not sympathetic to miners. They have to support their families. You do what you have to do. Right? This is one of the many instances where politics fails.** If you’re going for alternate sources of energy, it only makes sense to give these people training and equal pay in that field. Not toss them out on their asses. In their part of the world, mining is all there is. If you don’t give miners anything to fall back on, then they wind up having nothing and will most likely have to move from their residences to find new jobs (Giving the state of the economy their chances are pretty slim.). No one should ever have to move from the area they call home.

* Most people confuse the term naturalist with being a hippy. Believe me, I’m not the latter. My focus has always been a balance of nature. Humans are the only animal striving to be free of a system (for lack of a better word) that’s been in place since time began. And since the world is made up of relationships, it makes no sense to try and divorce yourself from it.

** This is one of the rare instances I ever talk about politics.