The Republican Party backlash to President Obama’s
recently announced climate change plan didn’t take long among Virginia’s “coal
country” Republicans as U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith (Salem), Del. Terry Kilgore
(Scott County), and Virginia Sen. Bill Carrico (Grayson) admonished the
president’s new vision for America’s energy future.
The admonishments came on Tuesday and none of the
Republicans mentioned above mixed words about their views towards President
Obama’s climate change strategies. U.S. Rep. Griffith said, "Declaring war
on coal is declaring war on southwest Virginia and its economy and its jobs and
its people because so much our economy is tied directly or indirectly to coal.”
It appears Mr. Griffith is upset!
And not only did these Republicans aim their fire at
President Obama, they also attempted to tie Democratic Party candidate for
governor, Terry McAuliffe, to the president’s new strategy on energy policy.
According to Sen. Carrico, a governorship with McAuliffe at the helm would work
"hand-in-hand with an Obama administration that are just bypassing
Congress to make their own rules on how this climate change will come about."
Of course, there isn’t any evidence to back up Carrico’s claim but there IS
plenty of evidence to support President Obama’s new strategy on energy policy.
Go figure, the Republican Party is once again on the wrong side of an issue.
While Virginia’s coal country Republicans bemoan the
potential losses in jobs and the alleged spikes in energy prices over the short
term, it’s this type of small-minded, short-term, thinking that has brought
America and the world to the edge of a global warming influenced set of catastrophes.
For those who may lose their jobs as a result of President
Obama’s new energy initiatives, I am truly sorry, but it’s time to finally do
what is right for the rest of the country and the world. Conservatives
supposedly believe in individual initiative and the ability of each individual
to find a decent job, if only they work hard enough. So take some initiative!
To my mind, Republicans like Carrico, Kilgore, and Griffith
are arguing that it’s okay to slowly kill thousands of Americans every year
because the source producing the killings employ many of their constituents. “It’s
okay America, we should allow al-Qaeda to operate in the Middle East, they help
bolster the U.S. defense industry as well as jobs in Virginia!” See, this line
of reasoning just doesn’t work out.
In a perfect world, no one would have to lose out as a
result of much needed policy directions. But we don’t live in a perfect world;
there will always be winners and losers. But I have confidence that coal
country Virginians (assuming they do in fact lose their jobs) will find gainful
employment elsewhere because they ARE hard working individuals. I am also
confident that one day Americans will look back on this conversation with
amusement. “I can’t believe anyone ever argued for jobs that tremendously
pollute our air!” As is so often the case in life, good results come from making
the right decisions, and the right decisions aren’t always the easiest.
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