Marshall County Assessor Christopher Kessler said the owners of coal mines and coal-fired power plants paid $18.4 million in property taxes to the county for tax year 2013. The county also collected $3.5 million in coal severance taxes last year.
MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. – The United Mine Workers of America – an organization that strongly supported President Barack Obama’s 2008 bid for president – has come out firing following the EPA’s recent proposal to cut carbon emissions by 30 percent by 2030, a standard that many believe will devastate the nation’s coal industry and lead to higher electricity prices.
Roberts had been a fervent supporter of Obama in 2008, saying at the time that Obama “shares the values of UMWA members and our families. He understands and will fight for the needs our members have today and the hopes our members have for a secure future for themselves and their families.”
“Sen. Obama is from a coal state,” Roberts said in 2008, according to published reports. “He understands that coal will remain a primary source for electricity generation in this country for many decades to come and he will join with the UMWA as we work to ensure that it will be used for that purpose in an environmentally responsible way.”The UMWA declined to endorse Obama in 2012. And now, Roberts questions the wisdom of decimating the nation’s coal industry and power-generating capabilities when other nations such as China and India continue to burn coal and emit carbon dioxide.
“Why on earth should we be willing to sacrifice the lives and livelihoods of thousands upon thousands of our fellow citizens on the naive bet that current and emerging economic competitors like China, India, Brazil, Russia and others will follow our lead…
