CHARLESTON — Art Kirkendoll believes uniting Democrats and Republicans on the issue of coal is as vital as the natural resource itself.

Kirkendoll, who is the Logan County Commission president, knows all too well how losing coal jobs in his county has affected life there.

"When Dal-Tex shut down, Logan County lost a $29 million payroll, $3 million direct taxes and 450 jobs that never came back," Kirkendoll said. "We have 38,000 people in Logan and I think coal, in some way or another, 80 percent of those people."

So, Kirkendoll called up Gov. Joe Manchin and urged him to gather together state leaders with representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Division of Environmental Protection to discuss the 23 surface mine permits that have recently been pulled as part of a reevaluation process by those agencies.

The result of Kirkendoll's call for a meeting was a bipartisan united front on coal.

"I've seen the good, the bad and the ugly in the coal industry. I've seen our taxes from coal go from half a million dollars to $77,000," Kirkendoll said. "One thing people are forgetting is that if we can't mine coal and the coal is called 'sterilized,' they aren't going to want to pay the taxes they pay on it if they can't mine it, and then what happens to the revenue of the state. If you don't pay a mineral tax and it's dead in the ground and the companies can't get it out, not only are you losing the coal severance tax, you're losing the revenue for minable coal. So, it's going to have an impact unlike anything we've seen.

"This was a great meeting. At the end of it, everybody agreed we have to unify our efforts to get to these regulatory and congressional people in America to tell them that shutting down West Virginia is not an option and we have to stop that from happening."

Attending the meeting were Gov. Manchin, U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., Reps. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., and aides to Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va. Also attending were Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin, Lincoln County Commission President Charles McCann, Mingo County Commission President David Baisden and several coal industry officials, including Gary White of International Reserves, Ben Hatfield and Gene Kitts of ICG, Brett Harvey of Patriot Coal and others.

Gov. Manchin said he is appreciative of Kirkendoll's efforts to bring everyone together.

"I think this meeting is extremely important and I appreciate Art for spurring it on," Manchin said. "The bottom line is that this country still needs what we do. They haven't found a way to replace coal. They're just in denial. Some people might not like it, but, you find a way to do it better. We keep trying to find it and it seems like it's never good enough. I think we're more unified than we've been. I think everyone is on the same page. Now, what we're going to do is form a plan so that when we're able to sit down and meet we have our priorities in order and we'll be able to show examples of what has happened by indecision and not moving. We're going to show everything that is devastating to our state and what needs to be corrected. I think now they know we're united and we'll have a clear message."

Capito said a unified front will be able to send a stronger message.

"I think unified voices are always louder and stronger certainly in Washington across the aisle, across the partisan divide in Washington," Capito said. "One of our missions is to join together with states who have similar problems with the EPA or Cap and Trade. We need to make our voices even stronger and more unified. I think what we will come out with from this meeting is a definitive plan, so we can take that voice we have gathered here today to the highest decision makers in this country who can help us either with the legislative or the regulatory issues that are before us. We also talked about economic impacts and I think we all realize that every piece of legislation and every regulatory regime has an economic impact. Certainly in West Virginia, the economic impact of what is coming down the pike either right now or in our future has a pretty grim outlook for us here in West Virginia."

White said he is thankful that Kirkendoll for pushing for the meeting.

"I think what we accomplished is a better understanding of the position of our congressional delegation and the plight of our industry and I think the results of the meeting will be the beginning of a dialog that will start with a high-level meeting with the EPA and the industry in Washington and, hopefully, from there, reasonble people will find reasonable solutions to these problems.

"If something isn't done, what will happen in southern West Virginia is what has already happened in (Mingo) County — our company, alone, has reduced its workforce by 25 percent since the end of 2008. And that's about 100 jobs. We're a small company. That's a microcosm of what's going to happen because we have to have permits to operate. This is not just about surface mining. This is not just about mountaintop removal. This is about mining — period. It affects underground mines. It affects cleaning plants. It affects surface mining, of course. It's critical to our economy. It's very serious and I think that message was well-given and well-received today."

Rahall said the meeting shows the rest of the country that West Virginia's officials are united on the issue of mining coal.

"The meeting was a productive session and will be followed up with additional meetings. This type of dialog is what's necessary because we are all on the same page and we cannot let people on the outside think otherwise or look at us and say 'Look how divided they are and they can't get their act together,'" Rahall said. "That's a misperception this meeting will go a long way toward combating. We are on the same page and always have been in fighting for coal and the jobs it produces and the revenues it means to our county commissions and the livelihood of so many families."

Rockefeller said he has never stopped fighting for West Virginia coal.

"West Virginia has always been up against it and we have never had anything handed to us and we have to fight for whatever we get," Rockefeller said. "And this is the next fight. Some of us have never stopped fighting."