Bloomberg, Sierra Club double down in attacks on coalfield families

“Billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s additional $30 million contribution to the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign is an affront to every working and retired coal miner, their families and their communities. It provides yet more ammunition for an effort that has and apparently will continue to put the lives, health and well-being of hundreds of thousands at risk in Appalachia and elsewhere.

“By shutting down coal-fired power, this campaign is making it ever more difficult for those working in coal mines to keep their jobs, meaning not just a loss of income but also a loss of family health care and other benefits working coal miners earn.

“This campaign puts at direct risk the pensions and health care of more than 100,000 retired coal miners, their widows and dependents. This campaign puts at direct risk the ability of communities to support critical services like first responders, schools, and other needs of coalfield residents throughout Appalachia, the Midwest and other coal-producing areas of the United States.

“Mr. Bloomberg and Mr. Brune of the Sierra Club can spout all the happy talk they want about the potential health benefits of their action, but the fact is that they are putting the health and well-being of tens of thousands of children, families and seniors at serious risk.

“I note that in their press release announcing this latest action, Mr. Bloomberg and Mr. Brune don’t once mention the people who will be most immediately affected by their actions: Those who live and work in Appalachia and the other American coalfield communities in the Midwest and western U.S.

“We may be invisible from the skyscrapers of New York and the mountains of California, but we are here nonetheless. We have long, sad experience with powerful elites dictating what we do and how we live, but we have also learned to fight back. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”