"This industry made this country great," Blankenship said. "If we forget that we're going to need to learn to speak Chinese."

"The overloaded coal trucks on the road, the coal dust, the bad air, the contaminated water... All of those things go along with mountaintop," Kennedy pleaded.

The welfare of the land is not the only sticking point in this debate -- it's also about the people and the state of West Virginia. Each side of the argument agreed that good health comes at a cost.

Kennedy said that he is not against underground mining, his problem is with mountaintop removal. He calls it a sin.

Blankenship says the real sin is taking away jobs and destroying families.

The University of Charleston was a packed house for the debate Thursday night, and every person there had opinions of their own.

UC's president said he hoped this discussion would bring people together, but the crowd was just as divided as Kennedy and Blankenship.

Many coal miners from Massey mines showed up in overwhelming numbers to show their support, and they left thinking Blakenship reigned supreme.

"I agree with him 100% that coal is going to be around; it has to be around for many years to come," Poncho Griggs of Van said. "I've worked in this job for twelve years and I haven't seen the first stream covered up and I should know, because I'm there."

Those on the other side of the issue thought it was clear that Kennedy wiped the floor with Blankenship's ideas.

"Blankenship didn't really say much of anything, I just think he was trying to avoid the questions," Chris Rodgers of Charleston said. "I'm for the people that mine, but I don't think they really know what they're doing to themselves and the community."

Many at the forum were stuck somewhere in the middle.

"It is a finite resource and we need to be looking for alternatives and in that respect I do see what Mr. Kennedy was saying," Danny Davidson of Charleston said.

In the overflow viewing area the crowd was largely pro-coal; in the auditorium where the debate took place it was split. The tickets there were given out to select people chosen by side.