Don't help coal industry create more hardship

Gov. Ernie Fletcher is holding a special legislative session to pass additional subsidies for the coal industry.

These incentives and tax breaks to produce coal-to-liquid fuel will encourage the destructive environmental idiocy that continues to destroy our Eastern Kentucky mountains.

The concerns voiced by mountain residents during last year's Kentucky Authors Mountaintop Removal Tour remain relevant:

Artie Ann Bates of Blackey in Letcher County: "I've lived here all my life. ... Some people say there are flatlanders who don't have the right to say anything about this part of the world. But I want to say that this is about more than just us. It's about harmony and children. It affects us as human beings, just think about that. It's about the land and it includes all of us."

Erica Urias of Island Creek in Pike County: "When my husband first brought me here, the land was beautiful. ... The creeks and streams, the ones that used to flow don't run anymore. They throw huge boulders to the side of the road. When I first moved out here, I felt comfortable sleeping at night. Now I am seriously scared. People are selling out. The coal companies have taken it for a few extra bucks. Our well water is bad. We can't drink it. Our daughter doesn't understand why she takes a bath and we have to warn her about getting it in her mouth. That it will make her sick. This land has been in my husband's family for over a hundred years. They say, sell out, sell out. But I love this place."

Carolyn Brown of Montgomery Creek in Perry County: "The wildlife is being destroyed. All the trees, the plants, yellowroot, wildflowers. Our streams are black, ruined. You drive through the areas, you see nothing, all the trees are gone. You see dirt, nothing won't grow on it. Where they plant grass, it won't grow. Some people still like to enjoy the natural look of the mountains. Our children will not get to see them. Because coal companies come in and make some people a few bucks. The land will be gone. It breaks my heart. It insults me. I really don't know how, but we have to save the mountains we have left."

Carroll Smith, then-Letcher County judge-executive: "If you've been to the mountains, at one time it used to be a beautiful place and now it's bulldozed. One of the things the coal companies use is that they supply a job, said, 'There's so many families gonna be out of a job.' ... I'm not willing to make a good living if it means somebody else's house is flooded or somebody else has to suffer. One of the kids said we can't vote for (Al) Gore, he's one of them environmentalists. Well, there's two kinds of people: environmentalists and fools. And I ain't no fool. If I'm on a side, I don't want to be on the side of the fools."

Randy Wilson of Big Creek in Clay County: "Some way, somewhere there's a better way, a better way to light this world. For a hundred years we've been sitting on coal, oil, gas, and we're still one of the most impoverished states. It doesn't make sense."

Pam Maggard of Sassafras in Knott County: "Because of King Coal, we live in dirt, dust. Potholes. Miss Polly can't go outside to watch the birds because it's too dusty. She just stands at her front porch window and cries. Surely to God we can find a way."

Evelyn Gilbert of Eolia in Letcher County: "We have the right to be heard. It looks like a desert. Kentucky touches your heart and gets in your soul. And I told my husband they won't get me out of here unless they blast me out of here and that's what they're trying to do."

Sam Gilbert of Eolia: "Ten years down the road there won't be no mountains, and there won't be no checks. I don't know what to tell you except that anybody loves these mountains the way I love them would just about take up arms to save them."

Patsy Carter of Huntleyville in Martin County: "Our daughter was 21 years old. ... She was killed by a coal truck. It was a senseless death. They stole her life. If you haul coal in this county, you can get by with anything. Nobody hears us. And it's coal. It is King Coal."

Patty Wallace of Louisa in Lawrence County: "We may talk funny but our brains work. The coal company says we need more flatland, we need more Wal-Marts ... We're not stupid, but they keep telling us what we need. When they haul the coal out of Black Mountain, it's just like tearing out my heart. We've gotta have help and we've gotta have it soon."

Mary Popham is a Louisville writer.