Appalachia

Unfortunately, coal is still King in this state. Here in central WV one can see "Friends of Coal" signs in people's yards and on their vehicles. Coal miners make up only 4% of the state's workforce, yet the influence of the energy companies permeates our whole state, on the federal, state and local levels. We have a beautiful state with lots of potential, but we have to change our image. I am a transplanted New Yorker, and when I was young the only images I ever got of WV was of the tragedy of the Buffalo Creek disaster, pictures of strip-mining and clear-cutting of our forests, unemployed coal miners hanging out in a beer hall, playing pool and singing "Take this job and shove it", and now most recently hazardous chemicals being released into the river from which the citizens of Charleston get their drinking water. I know WV is more than this, but this is what the rest of the country sees. No wonder they think that we are ignorant and don't care. As a teacher I used to ask my students, would you rather be called ignorant or stupid? Ignorance can be remedied, stupidity can't. Wake up people!