The coal war is escalating.
Maybe it's everywhere else, too, or maybe it's here in Washington because this is the center of the interest-group and decision-maker universe. Whatever the case, if you're here you can't get away from it, and who the heck would have thought just a little while ago that the merits and demerits of coal would confront ordinary people - not just policymakers and energy writers, but everybody -- at every turn?
Granted, we do get assaulted with all kinds of stuff that's hardly likely to show up in other places, like billboards promoting fighter planes made by one contractor or another, for heaven's sake. As though most of us on the Metro had something to do with awarding the contract. But then, if even two of us have something to do with it, I guess it's worth the expense. But geez, the anti-clean-coal "Reality" campaign is just bashing us subway riders over the head.
That's good, I reckon, if message-penetration is the goal.
It was not long ago that the pro-coal interests bombarded us in the Metro system and elsewhere in town. So, why not? Except that I can't help thinking 95% of the riders streaming through just wonder what they're supposed to do in response to the campaigns. Write their congressmen? Maybe some do. Certainly in some communities pretty far from here, people much closer to the questions at hand really do write their members of Congress -- and they march, and rally, wear t-shirts and support web sites that either support or decry coal interests.
Tuesday the Power Past Coal project, comprising groups from places that include Kentucky and West Virginia, among others, reminded us that January 21, the day after Barack Obama takes the presidency, will be a day for calling the White House asking for investment in clean energy, not coal or nuclear. Monday, our attention was pointed to a group of coal industry advocates in West Virginia that has launched Citizens for Coal, which will use miners "to educate lawmakers and the public about the industry and counter criticism from environmentalists." Lord knows how many other groups there are out there like these.
It's all good, though. As far from the coal fields and the ash spills as we are, we should be reminded that the good and the bad - all of it - is real and important to people who live in it and with it. It is policy here, and it is life there. Something to be keep in mind as the environment policy battles gear up. ... Oh, but wait. We do know that these groups can't do what they do without money, and the money comes from companies and bigger groups. We do. But still, somewhere out there are people who live at close quarters with the black stuff, and it's different for them, and we should know they're there.
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