Editor,

On the campaign trail President Obama made many promises. Some of which I'm sure he intends to keep.

Others that I know of have already been broken. He promised that he would do nothing to cause the loss of jobs.

However, hundreds of miners are losing their jobs everyday due to the President's and the EPA's decision to halt the permitting process. You might think your job is secure, but in our region, when one miner loses his/her job, seven others will be affected. Coal is what drives our local economy; without it WV, KY, PA, and parts of VA will be devastated by the jobs lost, adding to the already record unemployed. Crime will go up while businesses go under.

President Obama also said that he was a supporter of clean coal technology, but in one of his latest speeches he declared that "Fossil fuels are a thing of the past." Now, how does that sound to a third or fourth generation coal miner? It tells me that after powering this nation for hundreds of years, providing an honest income for my family, and paying my taxes, the government is going to take my livelihood, therefore taking everything else I've worked for and put me out on the street.

The mining industry is going to have to make a stand together, union and non-union, surface and under-ground, for the country to see how important coal is, not only for electricity and steel production, but the economy as well. Very soon, a day is coming (some talks already underway), when the miners will ban together, walk out, go to Washington, and sit there in the dark. Most of us are just good ol' country boys anyway; we don't have to have electricity to survive. How will you city folk fair?

President Obama promised he would not raise taxes, even after bailing out his buddies on Wall Street, the auto industry, and passing a trillion dollar stimulus package. What he did not elaborate on was the passing of his Cap and Trade bill which will tax carbon emissions from coal fired power plants. Now, if the power plants are taxed, common sense will tell you that it is passed on to the consumer. That's right — you and I can expect an average of $3,128 per year to be tacked on to what we now pay. And how convenient, that at a time when you are dependant on this bill to cover the bailouts and wasteful spending, to have your cronies at the EPA release the statement that "Carbon dioxide is a deadly gas." This is a ploy in order to pass this bill.

There is a list available to you on the Carma web site of the top 25 power plants in the world for carbon emissions. Not one is in the United States. Is it fair for you and me to pay an extra $3,128 dollars per year for carbon emissions, which pale in comparison to that of other countries, while the rest of the world goes on unchecked? Nope, he won't raise our taxes; he'll give the power companies no other choice, but to do it for him. This bill is to be voted on in August. If it fails to pass, what's next? Introducing a bill to tax each man, woman, boy, and girl for exhaling?

Effective July 1, I and 53 of my fellow miners will be laid off. Not from economic conditions, or a failing company, but because we cannot obtain a permit to mine. Fifty four, times the seven other persons dependant upon one miner working, would be a total of 378 now unemployed. But we don't have to hang our heads in shame, everyone in the region knows it is because of an administration with an agenda, not caring how many miners and their families are affected by ending coal production.

I graduated high school in 1991, went to work that summer, and have operated heavy equipment ever since, either mining coal, or construction work. It's all I know. Now, because of President Obama and his loyal minions, I stand to lose everything I've worked for. Most of my fellow miners are in the same situation as me, not knowing what else to do to provide for their families. Who is going to bail us out?

Is the United States still a Democracy or are we now a Dictatorship? What are our Senators and Representatives doing for the coal miners who help pay their salaries? They seem to be more interested in catering to the Special Interest Groups and the Liberals who seem to be running the country. I have a hunch that after the next elections, if we can survive that long, miners will not be the only ones unemployed.

Sincerely,

James Ball

Louisa, Ky.