The Coal Vote: Showdown in West Virginia's Midterm Elections

[@VICENews]

VICE News traveled to West Virginia's third district to cover the race between the two candidates as they fight to prove who will be coal's greatest champion, and spoke with locals about coal's outsized importance in the region. Check out "Environmental Groups Target Key Midterm Fight For North Carolina Senate Seat" - bit.ly/1wK2X6H

[@lukemilton1964]

Another great video! Keep up the awesome work Vice!

[@Name-dw7ix]

pls upload with 60fps

[@nicevideomancanada]

Suggestion Vise. Produce a show about the coming Renewable Energy Revolution in America and its positive outcomes.

[@edwardbernayse6665]

interesting story.

[@littleteethkeith]

VICE News Thank you for coming to West Virginia and covering both sides of this issue fairly . We often are an overlooked part of the country and its nice to see someone from the outside take notice. Coal is everything that is good about the 3rd District of WV and it is everything that is bad about the 3rd District of WV. I live in Beckley WV which is right in the middle of the 3rd District. I don't know what the answer is but something has change here. Coal provides high paying jobs with outstanding benefit packages. However all that goes away overnight when the coal market goes bust. I'm pro coal but I am also in favor of some diversity in our economy.

[@vladbcom]

"coal god has given us.." wow.. and this kind of talk is in USA? amazing..

[@jackpot9090]

Is there a problem? It's called American freedom of speech.

[@StrategicGathering]

God give'd us the planet.

[@RaytheonPwnsYou]

Its called the bible belt for a reason.

[@OverlordZephyros]

most religious people are ignorant unfortunately

[@FearlessP4P1]

Thats more of a southern way of thinking. I find it stupid, to be honest. With that said i think that way of thinking might have gotten the US its current GDP, its military might and its relatively low tax rate(compared to other nations) and our state of technology.

[@bartoszrost]

That guy in the camo is a true American.

[@rogerperdue4622]

I grew up in Boone County in an area now devastated by Mountain Top Removal. Seng Creek near Whitesville. I commend that young man for fighting to keep Boone County his home. I left. 40 years ago. I still miss it every day. But the coal companies has torn it all to Hell. It looks like a third world country instead of a place within a six our drive to D.C.

[@ElJorro]

Agreed

[@Jake-rs9nq]

He embodies the spirit of a true patriot, and sadly he receives death threats as a result.

[@Bobbybeb]

I've written a couple of research papers on this subject of coal mining in West Virginia. Through interviews and history books, its very easy to see that their economy revolves entirely around coal mining. Yes a few new corporations have moved into the area to provide jobs but the rate coal miners are losing their jobs greatly outnumber the new jobs coming in. Yes, even coal miners agree that they wouldn't mind a new way of life and they don't mind the government finally updating outdated emission requirements, but they need another job to fall back on. Many do not have the education or resources to just move out of the region. Coal mining has destroyed the beautiful region and created many environmental issues. Families of these regions have been working the coal mines for generations and that has created the culture it is today. Any possible solutions to this issue are greatly welcomed.

[@zhengyangwang214]

Trump actually cut spending on a governmental agency that is responsible to fund programs that aims to retrain coal miners to diverge into new industries to at least try and get some income back. www.timeswv.com/news/trump-budget-cuts-funds-for-unemployed-miners/article_bf6520e8-40fd-11e7-a009-af5bf810a9dc.html

[@chomama77]

How about these people start to realize they need to change with the times. Coal is dirty and just because people don't want to change the way they make a living does not mean that stance will work. Invest in alternative energy and provide jobs through a new means

[@rsmaster581]

sounds good to me. give us other jobs. please were waiting

[@Aplusinskal]

Just a thought, I don't believe it's people not wanting to change. I think it's more about people not having other options. One can always narrow-sightedly blame the individual, but if all billions of individuals on this earth were proactive inventors hell-bent on "making it", there'd be no place left for anyone at all. Governments could take more responsibility in delievering options, new education (long distance courses, IT, evening courses, apprenticeships...). Maybe bring in opinions/ideas from abroad? Hell, I'm sure there's a lot that can be done =)

[@BillieFingers]

"coal is going to come back!" How can they make statements like that?! It's obserd!

[@dstblj5222]

no it is, i have seen biomass green power at 10cents/killowatt hour thats what coal costs, for a clean plant that releases no pollution into the air puts money into farmers pockets, and employees dozens of well paid technicians not hundreds of poorly paid miners. Coal will be dead completely by 2050, the only coal that can survive is high grade coal used in steel.

[@samuelandrychowski1769]

How do you "wage war" on an unfeeling, unthinking, material object exactly?

[@SCAREDBANANA]

People stuck in the past and refusing change.

[@AA-bs3iy]

As someone who grew up in wv. I can tell you that is 100% accurate. It's like people here are stuck in the 70s.

[@LoyalmoonieProductions]

Because change is not without it's repercussions.

[@304Kid]

@@AA-bs3iy No joke, if you go into Wayne county, which is where I live you still see people walking around with the 1980s big hair. I mean it wasn't for the fact newer model cars where on the road you would think you went back in time.

[@valeriem4022]

Its not the ppl its thepoliticians lol

[@theuglykwan]

@@valeriem4022 The politicians are hobbled by the dumbass people. The smart ones left. So now they have to deal with the dumb ones that just want to return to days gone by. If you give them a reality check they vote you out. So only the ones that lie are in office.

[@adub4ever]

West Virginia coal miners have nobody to blame for the failure of the coal industry except the hydraulic fracturing of shale gas going on in N. Dakota, Oklahoma, & Texas. The market will always go with the lowest price . Washington DC can do nothing to stop the "progress" of capitalism. Automation & lower wages will be the norm going forward as corporations only concern is profit, & cares nothing for the well being of the people.

[@dravenriffe897]

I am a bio/pre-med major and student athlete at West Virginia State University. I am from the county that is depicted on this video, Boone County. My father, both older brothers, and both grandfathers are all coal miners(underground miners, not to be confused with strip mining or mountain top removal). When you grow up in the culture that I did you develop a great deal of respect for the people who choose to mine this coal to provide for their families. I can assure you that it is inaccurate to think you go straight into the coal mines making 100,000 per year. Most of my friends from high school who went into the mines after graduating, started off making around 40,000 per year. If you are a good worker and develop your skills you are able to rise to 60,000 - 80,000 per year range over many years. Six figure pay checks are more commonly associated with bosses, however these bosses are not what you would picture (they are not corporate scumbags who set in an office all day). My Dad is a superintendent of a coal mines that employs around 400 people, he has worked in the mines since he was only seventeen years old; When he first started he was only making 13 dollars an hour ( just a reminder, this is 13 dollars an hour to risk your life being 6 miles under a mountain with toxic gas and horrible air supply) My grandfather (on my mothers side) is also a superintendent. He was actually over the Upper Big Branch mine when the explosion happened that killed over 29 hardworking men(this was he worst mine disaster in the US since 1970)**He was not one of the people who got in trouble for the mine disaster. One of my great friends since grade school lost his father in a more recent accident. To give you an idea of how important coal mining is in a place such as Boone county I will share an example. My former high school football team consisted of around 70 players. Out of those 70 players I can literally only think of 6 people who's Dads were not coal miners.. At times it seemed like every day someone would come into practice to tell us the sad news of their fathers getting laid off . ---- My Dad has worked a rigorous schedule his whole life with 14 hour shifts and one day off per week. The reason the pain pill epidemic is so bad in Southern WV is because people constantly beat there self up with the harsh labor in the mines. They have to have some kind of medicine to deal with the abuse their bodies take, and unfortunately medical marijuana is not legal in WV. Even though my Dad is a very successful miner, and was the youngest superintendent in the history of his company, he has always encouraged me to seek a different way of life. It really takes a brave and loving person to risk their life everyday for their family. I think that this highlights the amazing quality of heart that West Virginians hold (regardless of how idiotic you might have seen West Virginians depicted in the media). When people ask me why I did not go into the mines I simply say, "I just don't wanna crawl into a hole under a mountain every day, for me that is no life to live." ******POLITICS WARNING****** - If you would like to hear the REAL reason that many of our WV citizens have a strong dislike of Liberal ideals, it is obviously based on the war on coal. On the flip side, it is not like West Virginians don't care about the environment, we take pride in enjoying our beautiful state and wildlife. However, we sometimes feel as if liberals do not even consider the well being of our coal communities when making new policies regarding coal. I am a biology major so I completely understand that scientific evidence is something that can under no circumstance be ignored. We just want lawmakers and the EPA to at least consider the immediate impact that their decisions have on us. Should we end up benefiting as a community or not from pro coal policies, there has got to be a more gradual or humanistic approach to cutting coal jobs. -----------------This is like the first time I have ever commented on a you tube video, my bad for dragging this out for so long but oh well.....

[@AnthonyBrianLogan]

If you want to eliminate coal then don't use electricity. Turn off your refrigerator. Turn off your TV. Turn off your cellphone. Don't use any powered technology. If you use electricity for heating during the winter, don't use it and rely on blankets instead. If you use AC in the summer, don't use it and sweat in your house at night. Also, go to Beijing and tell them to stop using coal in the factories where they make everything you own in your house.

[@AnthonyBrianLogan]

invictus14 yeah because nuclear power is very safe. i mean, there's never a nuclear plant on an island when a tsunami hits. it never gets damaged and leaks billions of gallons of radioactive water into the pacific ocean everyday.

[@uexkeru]

Anthony Brian Logan Even Fukushima is better than blowing up a mountain and leaking mercury and lead into the ravines and creeks below. I didn't even get into solar panels, chemical synthesis, etc. I'd rather the lights go out than tolerate the antics of the coal industry in WV

[@justinodonohue8977]

Niagara Falls Hydro Electric dam. Green Energy, fuck coal.

[@theuglykwan]

Coal is not being eliminated. Coal jobs declined a while ago due to automation. China has actually cancelled alot of their proposed coal plants because they've gotten to the stage where they have developed enough that they are starting to care about not killing themselves with pollution, the same way other countries developed. They are building them in other countries however. Not everyone gets their power from coal anyway.

[@flash803sqbz3]

Anthony Brian Logan or maybe i can use solar panels to have FREE energy.

[@DRH-yh9wm]

Democracy at it's finest. Choosing between two equally inept and corrupt candidates by an unintelligent, ill-informed, irrational people. Makes autocracy look preferred...

[@killercaos123]

This report was very troubling but also very insightful. Very good stuff Vice.

[@vortexunmastered4656]

8:35 that brick house on the right is my house and the highway that they are driving on, John Protan Highway, is named after my grandpa

[@Kai-Made]

"One of the most expensive in the most expensive mid-terms in history"...no kidding man. I live in central WV and I literally have three trees worth of paper from these people's campaigns. I really hate going to the mail box and getting 30 ads, 28 of them is pro-coal.

[@Kai-Made]

ntm the 10-20 calls a day.

[@marylavin4291]

People of west Virginia,wake up,Donald trump is not one of you or me the poor working class people,he was born a millionaire,never worked a day in his life,he is the great pretender,please stop and think,you people are tough always hard worker's,good luck.

[@henrybain9681]

Why can't they follow the lead of other mining states around the world such as Western Australia? although WA is contentious in Aussie politics, it's no where near as bad as in WV, as well as providing enormous employment, and making WA the wealthiest state in Australia on the back of mining, and without such enormous environmental damage as seen here. How can the US fuck it up so bad?!

[@Rowsdow3r]

The home in West Virginia that my father grew up no longer exists because the coal companies came in and stripped that land of all its worth.

[@conservativepersonnel8458]

nice reporting & set up

[@nathaniela.3273]

Yes, the miners will lose their jobs, but you can always find more. There is, however, only one Earth.

[@KILLKING110]

really for miners to get jobs when coal mines shut down is they have to go to college and get a debt at least of 30k at least and they have to pay the back or else the college can literally take what they own via the bank

[@ManifestGreifing]

That's what they're trying to get at. The transition is too radical, thus leaving too many people without jobs. Just saying "get another job" isn't enough. It's much more complex than that.

[@Leonardo-or1ll]

Yea I don't understand how they say that it is either the coal mines, military or prescription drugs. Become an entrepreneur open a bakery or something.

[@nathaniela.3273]

Manifest Yes, it is. They can always be put to work converting the mines to something usuable/appealing or installing alternate energy sources for their communities.

[@KILLKING110]

im a victim of alternate energy because a local power company that built a 100,000 wind farm tried forcing me and other people in the small city where I live to pay for it even though we don't get a single volt from them and now there wanting to build an ugly solar farm that will kill animals along with there ugly wind farm so I'd rather deal with coal and natural gas than so called green energy

[@ronhat-nx6yq]

This is what all politicians do best, all of them - lie and tell you what you what you want to hear. But the people are really the guilty ones. They are basically lazy and ignorant. They should ignore these politicians and create their own way. My father was a coal miner and died of black lung.

[@dogbuggy32]

I lov it here in wv but everything this young man said was true.....

[@SELEE2315]

We need more truthful news like this on a daily basis rather then the garbage we are fed by new channels on tv.

[@thomas7247]

California used to be a gold mining state, it ran out, they changed the economy. Why can't this state do the same? I understand that location is everything, and California has a lot more port/costal access. Open to ideas

[@edwinsemidey7405]

come on coal miners get real coal is going out and plus your reserves are almost gone. look what happened in Britain to their coal mining industry

[@admagnificat]

I know that this video is four years old in late 2018, but I definitely learned a few things all the same. Many thanks to everyone involved for all of your hard work in producing it!

[@TJV83]

A anti-coal Vice video? No fucking way.

[@DestinyQx]

"There's no other jobs but coal" With the large profits coal had decades ago.. the local and state government of West Virginia should have invested some of that profit back into the community.. diversify the job market so that its citizens can have other job opportunities.. so when other energy technologies make the coal industry more outdated.. the people have something to fall back on.. imagine 10 years from now.. someone from another country whose government supports innovation develops an easy and cheap way to get solar power.. and that person makes a company and sells his solar technology throughout the world.. making coal as obsolete as the telegram.. then no one will have a coal job.. i heard once that "if you wait until you're angry to say something, you waited too long" the people and politicians are rightfully angry.. but they waited too long.. it should never have gotten to this point and get so political.. it's called creative destruction.. the economic phenomena in which newer technologies will pose to destroy older ones.. but seemingly nothing will change until the inevitable will happen.. unless there is real leadership not by politicians necessarily.. but by ordinary citizens as well..

[@edwardbernayse6665]

i don't know the answer to this but are there any other countries who have been through something like this who had to transition from coal to something else to save a region of their nation economically? my guess would be yes and if so then west virginia could get some ideas from them. i don't know if that would mean implementing ideas that would be considered the ever taboo word SOCIALISM or not but they might want to look into what other nations have done because there might be a solution for them there.

[@DeathBringer9000]

its the south, noone can see beyond their hometown or think past tomorrow

[@heyaisdabomb]

This is the issue of most red states. They can't see past anything but today. You can learn anything you want on the internet today, literally anything. You can be in the middle of no where with no money and learn any skill you want. It's funny how the republicans claim to be so against welfare and letting the government take care of them, yet the republican states tend to be the ones with the highest welfare and demand the government solve their work situation. This is capitalism. It's up to you to gain the skills and experience to find a job. It's not the governments job to retrain you. It's yours...

[@zhengyangwang214]

www.timeswv.com/news/trump-budget-cuts-funds-for-unemployed-miners/article_bf6520e8-40fd-11e7-a009-af5bf810a9dc.html Read this, Trump is cutting funding for actual agencies that retrain former coal miners to try and get into other economic activities....

[@jackmiddleton5850]

What the fuck is more important, coal or the planet??? THINK

[@ManifestGreifing]

They're not trying to tell people to repeal coal suppression acts, they're trying to persuade the government (or at least the people) to open up jobs and hire the coal miners who have been laid off. The problem isn't the acts and carbon suppression, it's the lack of work that is available.

[@Litany_of_Fury]

Planet not going anywhere

[@dewfan14]

Well if coal goes away more than half of the nations power will go away, so unless you have a way to fix that I don't see it going away anytime soon.

[@Claptonisgod33]

Coal isn't half its 39% and we easily have the ability to make the move into renewable energy

[@Litany_of_Fury]

Too expensive and no profit.

[@garettjunkins8674]

There aren't any more jobs left in WV. Coal is the only thing there. Some counties in the southern part of wv have an unemployment rate of 50%. So you tell me what other jobs do you think there are?

[@joshuasmail6001]

Garett Junkins I agree 100%. Some people say “Well just adapt to newer things/technology and move out to find better jobs”.... nobody seems to understand how poor these people are. They can’t afford to just go away to college and get new careers. They have to stay where they are to survive. Besides, Coal Mining is the only thing in WV because so many other companies don’t want to invest in the state. Coal companies own a huge portion of the state which causes two problems. 1, people can live in certain parts of the state that is owned by these corporations and 2, other companies can build in those areas. I think the real problem here are these big corporations that are killing this state, not the coal miners working 60-70 hours a week, 6 days a week trying to provide for their families.

[@278films]

7:50 ... R.I.P. beautiful landscape :/

[@ramirer9561]

100k a year? Sign me up

[@StrategicGathering]

They've been mining coal for so long, it's hard to argue coal is destroying those states. What will destroy those states quicker than anything is a lack of jobs. Parents will lose their jobs, fall on hard times become very depressed, not be able to give their kids a prosperous life. Their kids won't have much opportunity and will end up on drugs, killing each other for money. The fact is coal is the most abundant fossil fuel, so its not like they are really running out.

[@StrategicGathering]

***** Which are lies, the mining equipment is not new, and coal is not running out. The only truth is, natural gas has become cheaper and America is on a drilling kick, not a mining kick. However, Germany has built five new coal power plants since 2008, which America exports a far amount of coal to Germany, and Canada has just open a carbon capture coal power plant. Like the one politician said coal will be back. Because one day the market will shift in its favor.

[@edwardbernayse6665]

StrategicGathering what things could potentially happen that could cause a shift back to coal and return jobs to coal miners?

[@utubewatchinhesk]

They need to make less kids...

[@StrategicGathering]

invictus14 What road is that because I live in Ohio and have family in WV?

[@uexkeru]

StrategicGathering Couldn't say. (although it was somewhere on the way to Hazelton from the south) It was years ago and the area was probably replanted later to look more normal. But look up mountaintop removal on google images and you'll see examples of the exact same thing. Not an indictment of all coal mining, but it's a common form now. The top half of the mountain is blown up and debris dumped into valleys and small streams. Then they astroturf it later and the mountain become a golf course hill

[@brendan9332]

This documentary is absolutely fantastic.

[@joshwellman8322]

Look at Huntington, charleston, Beckley, greenbrier county, there is plenty opportunity in southern WV and same goes for almost all of northern WV. The only problematic part of the state is the coalfields (mingo, McDowell, Boone, Wyoming, Logan, Lincoln, and Wayne counties), the rest of district 3 is fine. Jobs there ran out years ago and people refused to relocate now it's full of pill heads and poverty.

[@highspacefox]

hopefully enough people in west virgina see this to stand up and end this destruction of their watershed! absolute madness

[@alivinggodservice]

We can to vote these problems away

[@themanwnoname3454]

2019 “Respect and dignity.” Furthermore: (Vice) (Truth) >-< (Vice) • “Respect and dignity, 2019?”

[@sonictech1000]

What law is preventing people from suing over the poisoning of their water?

[@donaldhouchins9318]

I grew up in West Virginia and I've worked indirectly for the coal companies. Just like the auto industry, when you cut back big industry, the trickledown effect is devastating. Small businesses that support the industry fail quickly. Entire towns go out of business and families are torn apart. When towns die, no other businesses want to move in. This is why the current drug situation is rampant in the area. Drugs from the bigger cities that have felt the pinch of failure, e.g. Detroit, start moving in. Along with the drugs comes violent crime. When all you know is mining, jobs that pay minimum wage doesn't cut it. That is if you can even find a minimum wage job.

[@magneto44]

coal is the worst thing to ever happen to the state of West Virginia

[@shifterdude]

Can't wait to see you guys on Cable!!

[@billyhighfill]

So sad the thinking back then was that this a problem for the future, not a problem needing delt with now. Now look where we are, in a world of hurt and getting progressively worse.

[@LegoReviewsAndMor312]

Coal runs this area. Both Kentucky and West Virginia, without it. Our economies in this area are fucked, those jobs is what makes our small towns and cities thrive.

[@patricklundstrom8376]

"There is nothing else"... There is that American spirit...

[@dauphine719]

JUNIOR, YOU ARE AWESOME

[@deeanderson4031]

The people need to look at the coal companies. They decided with Regan to get rid of the unions , close the mines, then lease the coal to non-union mine operators. They invested their money in natural gas. It's cheaper to produce and maintain. The companies were allowed to leave coal communities with ruined land and sick people with no health care. The mountains are being removed ,wells ruined, rivers and streams polluted. Toxic waste storage is in every county. The people need to realize that coal mining is gone. The companies chose to produce gas. Cheaper means more money for them. That's the bottom line.

[@MichaelNetwork]

Our ecomeny has been taking since the 80's.

[@nevets4190]

"coal is coming back" lol sorry man you are wrong

[@Jay121]

Why is Vice selling out to Rogers? Please don't.

[@RiotHouseLP]

A 19 term incumbent? That is 28 years as a Representative. That is way TOO LONG. He has made a career out of being a politician, big problem there.

[@MrHeaten]

and thats why you should start with clean energy programs in these kind of places

[@jonathanslaughter8880]

Why is the main picture of sawrun prep plant. I grew up 2 miles from here. Nothin there now.

[@shawnullerup6844]

Don't blame me. I voted for Kodos.

[@dylanbca]

Not worth stopping the push for clean energy and less expensive energy, but steps should be taken to help the WV coal workers get new work.

[@Treetale]

You came all the way to West Virginia to talk about coal and politics and you never talked to Paul Corbit Brown? LAZY journalism!

[@fakemadereal]

Diversify your goddamn economy.

[@joshuasmail6001]

fakemadereal It’s the coal companies fault for owning all this land making it impossible and illegal for other companies to come in and create new jobs! It ain’t the miners’ faults, it’s the big corporate CEO’s for killing this state

[@MrStaybrown]

They still believe Trump is going to save Coal because he said so.

[@greenearthblueskies8556]

😂

[@tstbad59]

Well West Virginia needs help, after decades of being a high tax, low economic mobility state, they’re now seeing the results and they know they’ve got to change.

[@MrStaybrown]

Coal companies know its over, so they are opting for worse insurance, pensions are gone, 401k match has gone away, safety programs abolished. Coal companies are ready to bounce checks and walk away.

[@tstbad59]

@@MrStaybrown Of course Coal also plays a part. If they can get education and tech jobs into that state, that would be good. It turned Arizona from the Wild West to a tech hub.

[@ZeeBri]

America is such a strange place. It seems to have gone backwards from the days of the founding fathers instead of forwards towards real freedom.

[@TheGORILAUNIT]

How much money gets miner?

[@natashak2125]

Junior Walk - that's a good guy right there.

[@MrArandjic]

Except hydro power, human civilization didn't make any progress from prehistoric fire energy. We even drive our car with controlled fire in our engines.

[@tminajvirginia8543]

Sad. Southern Virginia is Controlled by Tobacco. And that's why 70% of the towns there are Dying (DANVILLE, Emporia, Martinsville etc.)

[@ptitjo2920]

Saddens me to see the beautiful Appalachians mountains getting ripped off for disgusting dirty coal.

[@radinaringo2933]

Here's a 4th option, go to college/university to get more education and raise your chances of getting a better job.

[@courtneymerritt777]

That would be nice if you could afford it

[@lukemilton1964]

I stand for Clean & Green energy! Clean & Green is the way to go!

[@supaman1498]

If only they put that effort to mine coal toward enviromentally friendly solution

[@shifterdude]

This chick looks like she just woke up and started interviewing ppl

[@DeathBringer9000]

you can also go to college, just putting that out there

[@chestermanifold9023]

You sound like a very nice person

[@shawnleveston1972]

It's fucked up how an industry that destroys the environment is this community's life blood.

[@StrategicGathering]

Every part of the country has an industry that created the community and supported the economy. Detroit had the auto industry. Pittsburg had the steel industry, New Hampshire had the textile industry, and West Virginia had the coal industry. The only thing that made West Virginia was coal mining, and without coal. West Virginia has nothing and will be nothing. As if coal was never there. 

[@paulbryan6716]

What are they going to do whan all of the coal has been removed from the ground? Then what? It is a finite resource and extremely limited. It takes millions of years to create it. They had better be thinking on what is going to happen when all of it is gone.

[@tstbad59]

What a depressing place.

[@shoegum7362]

Blame the government, makes sense.

[@MrBeny]

Reminds me of North West England 30/40 years ago.

[@sonictech1000]

Who owns these mountains that are getting blown to bits?

[@ElJorro]

They need to move on.

[@karunanithin.ramachandran6482]

The trouble with people all over the world is that their view of the whole world is restricted to the immediate area they grew up and live in. Go anywhere in this world and talk to the middle class ( which is growing smaller and poorer ), and they will all tell you the same thing. The cost of living, the price of everything is going up and up. Jobs are getting less and the govts. and businesses only talk about increasing the minimum wage. The wage earners don't have any savings in the bank because they don't earn enough to save. What they do have is a lot of loans to pay back. But don't worry. The rich who own all the huge corporations will join us eventually. They will be unable to sell their services and goods because the majority of the world population will not be able to afford it. Like I always said, the rich are strangling the golden geese that are their source of wealth.

[@wvrockcrusher]

WV has put all their eggs in one basket, relying heavily on coal for too long and failed to diversify the economy in this state. The topography of southern WV doesn't allow for much else other than coal jobs. Most of these places are far removed from urban areas and would be cost prohibitive to make a go of anything else. The politics of this state have been screwed up forever, and it shows. WV has not been well known for a business friendly climate and this has hurt us immensely. I have seen and heard of countless businesses looking to come to WV to start up, only to have them locate elsewhere because of stupid leadership in our state or lack of access to infrastructure. People have to move out of state to find work and they are leaving at a fast pace, which is sad. Make no mistake, our state government has taken advantage of what money was generated from coal, but not in a good way. Instead of looking ahead and investing in WV's future, the money has been squandered and taken out of state. We should be a very rich state with all that has happened here over the years, but it is the opposite. There are some very good people here ready to work at something worthwhile. I don't know what the answers are, but I know coal is not going to be our saving grace. We need better leadership and a new business plan if we intend on having a future here and it has to come from people who understand WV and the problems associated with the economy in this state. One thing is for sure, as long as there are people on this earth, she is going to show some scars that will be erased with time, just as civilizations of the past. Just my insignificant, humble opinions.

[@404nonexistent]

Is it so hard to simply devote our money/effort towards human intelligence rather than greed? Seriously. If even a third of the planet decided to channel their money into schooling/science, think of how many problems would vanish in 5 years. Voting with your dollar is almost what counts anymore.

[@CirnoVEVO_9]

No wonder why Green Energy isn't coming any sooner.

[@Paid2Win]

Oh my, Neha Shastry is beautiful.

[@johntitor7600]

Keep saying that climate change isn't real. I want to play Fallout in real life. I still need to use all my preps from 2012.

[@dannyjohnson5029]

Horses and buggies are going to come back, whale oil is going to come back, the old south is going to come back. Donald Trump says so and he never lies.

[@robertrsles5058]

Whats this guys name the guy with the hat ... he is very knowledgable im sorry to say this but hes about the smartest w virginian i ever heard

[@wheelndeel5472]

So they can mine the coal god has given us and blessed us with. Im not sure if i can keep watching

[@cenaboy117]

I do think we should find an alternate fuel source from coal and fossil fuels but we can't all just give up our cars, what im saying is we should expand fossil fuel use so it's more affordable and then start moving to a different energy... It takes energy to get to cleaner better energy.

[@ThaProphet]

Its the same in Eastern Kentucky.. And they wonder why the prescription drug problem is so bad there's literally nothing else. No hope for us, Appalachia is fucked.

[@christophermartin8685]

Why does that guy in camo talk in vocal fry.

[@charleskesner1302]

It is so sad. In Michigan they shut down many auto plants eliminating a large segment of the middle class here. I think we are all victims of the same thing. Corporations interested in profits over people and doing the right thing.

[@adub4ever]

As West Virginians got to vote to see who can "save" the coal industry, Texans will be voting to approve many more hydraulic fracking sites all over the state. I say to hell with the energy industry & their pimps, human kind demands clean cheap & efficient nuclear power!

[@TheHabsification]

Diversify the economy for goodness sake. Coal is a finite resource the basins reserves are running out, which makes it more expensive, which then drives up the cost of it. They can now get cheaper coal from the west of the country now, natural gas is taking off it's cheaper it's quicker and it's cleaner to burn and the final nail in the coffin, which will kill so many peoples jobs this century alone is automation. Automation is a big cause to so many people to lose jobs in coal mines.

[@Blackheathenly]

Start a solar and wind array, silly!

[@AfriNam1894]

America is heading to another Great Depression and the world would suffer from it especially Africa.

[@Litany_of_Fury]

EU seems to be doing fine

[@program1195]

Gilbert beilschmidt lol... have you seen the news?

[@Litany_of_Fury]

Ok the United Kingdom seems to be doing fine

[@idkidk8959]

Gilbert beilschmidt Guess that's why the US Dollar is worth more than the Euro and British Pound at the current moment.

[@Claptonisgod33]

America avoided another depression and the economy is pretty much back on track

[@morningglory3323]

Its sad the way they are stripping the hills away!

[@tonejerrot7631]

America and western countries can stay with coal. But these countries have to recognise other countries are moving to alternative technologies to gain electricity, creating less global demand for coal.

[@raidenprotecterofearthreal7909]

35000 jobs? That's it? Just lay them all of and give them 100k they will be good.

[@USELESSCOM]

Obviously the next ten years are way more important than 1000s of years of future prosperity.

[@Jake-rs9nq]

What industry will bring 1000 years of prosperity to West Virginia?

[@jada1015]

we need green jobs in the usa.

[@goofguy316]

Its the resource curse, where the focus becomes on resource extraction and not industry development leading to shitty reality's like that in West Virginia