Attention PA, OH, IN and VA Voters

This weekend, audio surfaced of an interview that Senator Barack Obama gave the to editorial board of the San Francisco Gate newspaper. In it, Senator Obama had some interesting things to say about a major industry in your states - coal.



The money line is this

"If somebody wanted to build a coal fired plant they can - it's just that it will bankrupt them because they are going to be charged a huge sum for all of the greenhouse gas that is emitted."

Now think about this...suppose your electric company is like most in the country - they get a majority of their power from coal fired plants. Demand for their product is going through the roof - so much so that it is becoming impossible for them to keep up with the demand. They have two choices - they can either build an expanded plant thereby hiring contractors to build the new plant and then hire the employees to staff the plant and thereby boosting the local economy OR they can charge more for the limited supply in order to suppress demand for their product. Their costs would not necessarily go up and all of that increased money would go straight into the utilities bottom line. Oh sure, the investors would be happy - their stock dividends would go up big time. The Board of Directors would be happy - happy enough to most likely give that CEO a big fat raise. In fact the only ones who would be taking the financial "hit" would be the employees (some of whom would get laid off in order to cover the costs of the cap and trade taxes on the existing plants) and the consumers! And the already fragile economy teeters on the brink of total collapse!

The Ohio Coal Association "gets it":

Regardless of the timing or method of the release of these remarks, the message from the Democratic candidate for President could not be clearer: the Obama-Biden ticket spells disaster for America's coal industry and the tens of thousands of Americans who work in it.

"These undisputed, audio-taped remarks, which include comments from Senator Obama like 'I haven't been some coal booster' and 'if they want to build [coal plants], they can, but it will bankrupt them' are extraordinarily misguided.

"It's evident that this campaign has been pandering in states like Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Indiana and Pennsylvania to attempt to generate votes from coal supporters, while keeping his true agenda hidden from the state's voters.

Oh and for those of you who think that this only effects PA, OH, and VA......take a look at this...

Colorado coal producers purchased over $363 million in services and
supplies during 2007.
Coal severance taxes contribute millions of dollars for local/state governments.

It hits the Intermountain West (Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Nevada and Idaho) just as hard.

Change we can believe in....indeed!