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You should really talk to the local population in places around former Washington lumber forests or West Virginia coal mines, and ask them whether in their opin

You should really talk to the local population in places around former Washington lumber forests or West Virginia coal mines, and ask them whether in their opinion environmentalism was good for their interests. Maybe this particular mine was even a bad idea; Wikipedia at least indicates most Alaskans were against it. But of course in the NYT the opinion of the actual people affected is not considered, just the moral preening over Untouched Landscapes.

SamReidHughes 11y ago
Is your philosophy that any law that hurts the interests of a subset of the population for the good of the whole is a bad law?
jacobolus 11y ago
Burning coal for electricity is rendering the whole planet uninhabitable, coal mining is one of the most dangerous possible occupations, and the toxic byproducts from coal mining poison the local population and local wildlife. West Virginia’s economy is a slightly tough case, because they’re in the mountains and are relatively isolated away from the coast or big rivers, without much productive farmland, and their economy is dominated by chemical production and coal mining (and more recently also shale gas production). Otherwise there’s not too much going on, and WV is the second poorest state (by median household income) in the US and has the second lowest life expectancy, both after Mississippi, and has the lowest proportion of college graduates of any state. As a matter of national policy, I’m not sure what the best way is to help West Virginia. Better federal support for their healthcare, education, and anti-poverty programs would be a start, but what they really need is a more diversified economy. It’s a hard problem. Coal mining is on its way out one way or another, with continuing low gas prices, dropping solar/wind prices, and increasing national and international concern about CO2 emissions.
SixSigma 11y ago
The answer will be "no, I lost my job". That doesn't make environmentalism a bad idea.
tobltobs 11y ago
You should really talk to the local population which currently makes a living from fishing, tourism and timber and then ask them if in their opinion destruction of the livelihood is in their interest. You also should read texts better before starting your anti environmentalism rants, because in the NYT the opinion of the actual people affected is indeed considered. The local population was against this mine.

SamReidHughes 11y ago

Is your philosophy that any law that hurts the interests of a subset of the population for the good of the whole is a bad law?

jacobolus 11y ago

Burning coal for electricity is rendering the whole planet uninhabitable, coal mining is one of the most dangerous possible occupations, and the toxic byproducts from coal mining poison the local population and local wildlife. West Virginia’s economy is a slightly tough case, because they’re in the mountains and are relatively isolated away from the coast or big rivers, without much productive farmland, and their economy is dominated by chemical production and coal mining (and more recently also shale gas production). Otherwise there’s not too much going on, and WV is the second poorest state (by median household income) in the US and has the second lowest life expectancy, both after Mississippi, and has the lowest proportion of college graduates of any state. As a matter of national policy, I’m not sure what the best way is to help West Virginia. Better federal support for their healthcare, education, and anti-poverty programs would be a start, but what they really need is a more diversified economy. It’s a hard problem. Coal mining is on its way out one way or another, with continuing low gas prices, dropping solar/wind prices, and increasing national and international concern about CO2 emissions.

SixSigma 11y ago

The answer will be "no, I lost my job". That doesn't make environmentalism a bad idea.

tobltobs 11y ago

You should really talk to the local population which currently makes a living from fishing, tourism and timber and then ask them if in their opinion destruction of the livelihood is in their interest. You also should read texts better before starting your anti environmentalism rants, because in the NYT the opinion of the actual people affected is indeed considered. The local population was against this mine.