Have a few friends who are out of a job today, due to the temporary shut down at Cumberland River Coal. I worry about these young men, who now will be competing for scarce jobs in our area. I worry about the old men, many who dropped out of school and cant read or write but had good paying jobs in the mines. Where do they now turn for employment, little else how to do they navigate the system to find assistance? I worry about the families that will now be torn apart as daddy has to either travel West or North to find work. I worry about our local economy, as less dollars are available to be spent at our local businesses. The failure to diversify the economy of the coal fields by Democrat and Republican Presidents, Governors, U.S. Senators, U.S. Representatives, State Senators, State Representatives, and local elected leaders have failed these men and their families. We have watched since the 60s money be thrown at the War on Poverty, only to make a few corrupt individuals and families wealthy. Coal Severance tax dollars meant to diversify the economy of Eastern Kentucky, has been plunder and sent to Lexington and Louisville to make good roads, water/sewer systems, and build the economy. While Eastern Kentucky is left to suffer in poverty and hopelessness, that those in the Golden Triangle of the state like to ignore. Local and State leaders get fat off the tit of Big Coal, passing laws and regulation that help the bottom line, but hurt the men digging black gold and the communities they live in. Our land is tied up by land companies formed by the coal/gas industry, who hold mineral rights which makes surface development nearly impossible and fool-hearty for other industries. Would you invest 100 million in a factory to only later be told, Oh we own the minerals under your factory, so we are going to mine here and you are just out of luck. We as a region have to find a balance of holding on to our past, but at the same time reaching for our future. The future my friends lays in finding a way to move us pass a one industry economy, breaking the cycle of bust or boom economies, and not waiting for a hand-out or bail-out from Frankfort or Washington D.C. You cant cant expect others to help, until we help ourselves.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 18:00:32 +0000
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