Coal’s future must be discussed, Democratic House candidates say

The Charleston Gazette
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Coal’s future must be discussed, Democratic House candidates say
By Paul Nyden
Staff writer

The two Democrats running for the 2nd District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives said Monday that coal will continue to play a role in West Virginia, but the state’s leaders need to talk more about different aspects of the future.

“We appreciate that coal has been the bedrock of our state,” Meshea Poore, a delegate from Kanawha County, said in a conversation with Gazette editors. But Poore, whose grandfather was a coal miner, hopes state leaders look more closely at all sources of future energy, including gas, windmills and solar power.

Nick Casey, a former chairman of the state Democratic Party, believes concerns about coal differ throughout the 2nd District, which runs from the Potomac River to the Ohio River.

“In Shepherdstown, Martinsburg and the Eastern Panhandle, there is not a coal tradition. In other areas, the people would not be there if it wasn’t for coal,” Casey said.
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