“His post “Coal Miners are Good People” is a thoughtful read — but begs the question, does this conversation inevitably end in one side versus the other? Is there another way to talk about what’s going on here? Do we have to pick a side?”

Inevitably for the coal miner it has become a matter of choosing sides. In the mines you are either a “treehugger” or a “coal miner”. During our weekly safety talks before going underground it wasn’t uncommon for the mine foreman (and even in one case a Virginia State Mine Inspector) to jump on the soap box about environmentalists shutting down mines and “putting us all out of a job”. They portrayed environmentalists as an enemy to our well being. There is literally a hatred towards environmentalists within the ranks of coal miners. Perhaps not a violent hatred, but a hatred non the less. For many coal miners vocalizing their concerns about the environment is tantamount to talking “union” in the eyes of mine management and there would certainly consequences, if not from the mine management than from fellow co-workers.

Like you I would like to find a way that coal miners could transition away from the coal industry without the finality of choosing a side, but with the present day social cultures found within the mines it is difficult if not impossible. I plan on addressing it in future posts.