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Posted: 5:50 PM Jun 19, 2009
Massey CEO Challenges Protester to Global Warming Debate
Opponents of mountaintop removal coal mining, including NASA scientist Dr. James Hansen, film actress Daryl Hannah and former Congressman Ken Hechler, plan to protest in Raleigh County next week.
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61 Comments 
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- The head of Massey Energy is challenging a mountaintop removal coal mining opponent to a public debate to discuss the issues of global warming and the West Virginia economy.
Massey CEO Don Blankenship wants to debate with Dr. James Hansen, a NASA scientist, who is planning to protest outside a Massey owned mine next week in Raleigh County.
Hansen will be joined by film actress Daryl Hannah and former West Virginia Secretary of State and Congressman Ken Hechler Tuesday at Marsh Fork Elementary in Raleigh County. The publicity for this event Tuesday states that it will begin a year of activism to stop mountaintop removal mining.
“While I don’t recall anyone inviting out of state environmental protestors from San Francisco and a Hollywood actress to Massey’s property on June 23rd, I’m more than willing to invite Dr. Hansen to have a factual discussion about coal mining in West Virginia, which provides thousands of jobs in the state and provides low-cost energy to millions of Americans," Don Blankenship stated in a news release sent out Friday afternoon.
Blankenship stated he'd rather have a productive dialogue instead of "publicity arrests" next week during this protest.
Blankenship noted a protest at a mine earlier this week in Twilight in Boone County led to more than a dozen arrests and a diversion for state troopers.
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Latest Comments
ok i'll bite... i guess i was caught up in the protestor article so I'll debate global warming... i feel dirty for saying these words but I do agree with don blankenship on this issue...(ugh). global warming has been proven by scientists to have happened many times over, with the ice caps melting and a supervolcano or other major event to set off a large amount of debris in the atmosphere, block out the sun and send the earth into an ice age. i don't think that mining would have any impact on global warming just like cars and aerosol don't impact it much either....its just earth's natural cycle.
Well, evidently some people cannot read what the headline is about here. It is about “Global Warming”. However, it appears that some people cannot read well, since they want to talk about unions, mountaintop removal, and jobs. I do not know, but maybe some people have had everything read to them and fed to them from unions, that maybe they have forgot how to read and decide things for themselves. When an article comes out about unions, jobs, etc., then that would be a good time to speak out on such topics. Until then, this is where ‘Global Warming’ was being talked about and what the coal industry impacts are to it. I personally do not care if the coal is mined by union workers or non-union workers, or if it is deep mined or removed from mountaintops (as long as it is reclaimed according to law). The important thing is, that a large portion of coal is WV and a large portion of WV is coal, so lets keep mining, keep jobs (union and non-union) and keep WV ‘Wild and Wonderful'.
i've been on several mountaintop removal reclaim sites and there's no soil, just a rocky terrain with weeds, not sustainable for any wildlife and barely to plant life. if they were to truly reclaim these mountains, they would put soil back on them so trees can grow. without trees and other plants, water just runs off freely, causing a lot of the major flooding you're seeing. IMO, the only reason don blankenship sent heavy equipment to the heavily damaged flood areas is because his company caused it. MTR sites employ far less people than a traditional mine, so in theory they're actually robbing WV of its jobs..i worked once for massey and in the orientation program they explicitly tell you that if you even say the word "union" you'll be fired. come on don, spend a few more million dollars placing people in political offices to further your agenda..
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