This WSJ piece on the battle over coal in rural (and important electoral swing) states is frustrating. On one hand, you have enviros, characterized as urbanites concerned exclusively with global warming. On the other hand, you have rural residents, characterized as concerned exclusively with keeping their mining jobs.
Why is there no mention of the ways Dem candidates and enviros are attempting to address those concerns? No mention of the ways Obama and Clinton propose to use auction revenue to help these states out, retrain their workers, create new green jobs for them?
I don’t blame the reporters. The candidates themselves, and most enviros, treat it like an afterthought. But that’s going to be disastrous, not just in the election but over the long course of the climate fight. Climate policy is going to create turbulence and upheaval for some people, and taking care of those people is central to its long-term viability. Dem candidates should be way more vocal about it.
