Steve Walker, president and chief operating officer of Cecil I. Walker Machinery Co., launched a Friends of Coal membership drive at the company's Belle headquarters by telling workers that their jobs depend on convincing others that coal is an essential energy source.
Employees laid down their tools for about a half-hour Wednesday morning to listen to Walker and Mel Hancock, a field representative of the Friends of Coal.Steve Walker, president and chief operating officer of Cecil I. Walker Machinery Co., launched a Friends of Coal membership drive at the company's Belle headquarters by telling workers that their jobs depend on convincing others that coal is an essential energy source.
Employees laid down their tools for about a half-hour Wednesday morning to listen to Walker and Mel Hancock, a field representative of the Friends of Coal.
Friends of Coal is a coal advocacy group funded by the West Virginia Coal Association. Membership is free. The organization claims "tens of thousands" of members and says its members are in 37 states, three Canadian provinces and nine other countries.
"You have to become an activist - to become knowledgeable about the facts of coal, not the myths of coal about how bad it is," Walker told the workers. "It is a very good industry, a very good source of energy. You know how dedicated our miners are, how safe they try to work, how different our corporations are that run these companies. This is not your grandfather's coal industry.
"When opponents beat on coal, just ask yourself, 'Where are they going to get the megawatts? Not 20 years from now, but where are they going to get them two years from now?' That's where we really have to be activists in knowing what we're talking about.
"You can't be afraid," Walker said. "You've got to stand up because this is your livelihood. If you want your kids to stay in this state, you've got to fight for it. So we've got to become more and more vocal, more and more intelligent about this coal industry.
"Friends of Coal is friends of you - your friends and neighbors." Walker said. "You need to tell the people what's going on."
Walker Machinery sells and refurbishes heavy equipment used by the coal and construction industries. The company has 750 employees. "Our jobs here all depend on the production of coal in Southern West Virginia," Walker said.
The company has had "a reversal in the optimism" since a March ruling by U.S. District Judge Chuck Chambers, he said.
Chambers ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers violated federal law by issuing valley fill permits for mountaintop removal mines without conducting extensive environmental reviews. The ruling is being appealed. But Walker said it has created uncertainty about the future of mining in southern West Virginia and the company's customers are afraid to buy new equipment unless they have to.
"You guys are rebuilding equipment, repairing equipment - which is great, except it shows a trend: That Judge Chambers' ruling has chilled the multi-billion dollar surface and deep mining investment that goes on every year in southern West Virginia."
"Coal is the Number One economic driver in this state," Walker said. "It provides the bulk of our tax dollars and the income that is derived by you, by us. We pay our taxes, we give to our churches. . .
"I just do not understand the logic of those who oppose coal," he said. "And let me say the people who oppose coal right now hate coal - they hate the mining of coal, they hate the burning of coal and in my opinion they have a complete disregard for you and the citizens of southern West Virginia. That's the way I see it. Because if they had any logic and smarts, they would know coal has to be mined in order to provide electricity, not only for West Virginia but for this country."
Walker said that using natural gas to generate electricity raises the price of natural gas. He said no new nuclear power plants have been built for years and it looks like it will take 15 years to build a new one. "Wind, solar and alternative fuels - we need them," Walker said. But right now they can provide only a small percentage of the nation's energy needs, he said.
"Each one of these energy sources is not a perfect source," he said. But "the modern coal industry today is a good industry - it runs by the law. We have to support this and this is what Friends of Coal can help do.
"The perception of coal mining is probably not the best in the public because we don't get a lot of good press," he said. "Nobody really pats the industry on the back for what we do in a positive manner."
Walker pointed to a banner behind him that said, "Yes, coal. Clean, carbon neutral coal." Walker said, "That's where we're headed in the coal business. C-T-L (coal-to-liquids), carbon sequestration.
"But that's not going to come about for a while," he said. "It takes time to get the permits to build the plants and get it online. I don't know what the governor of Kansas is going to do. I read the articles that she's shelved the coal plants out there. They're saying wind, and they've got a lot of wind in Kansas. But I've looked at the numbers and it will not supplant what the coal was going to do in Kansas.
"We're facing an energy crisis here," Walker said. "Our public doesn't know it and our politicians, I am afraid, are running from it. I don't hear our politicians, many of them, beating the drum every day for West Virginia coal. I just don't hear it. Our governor's done a pretty good job of it. But others have not. I haven't heard a lot of pro-coal down in our Legislature right now. They ought to be out in front, because it is your jobs that we need.
Walker said Congress "threw coal under the bus" and "I'm afraid, unless we really get after them, and know what we're talking about with our neighbors, it's going to take a trauma for coal to get back in to doing the things it has to do."
He said the government has a double standard: It watches the coal industry carefully to make sure it doesn't pollute, but allows people to put raw sewage into creeks and rivers.
"It's time for us to stand up and say, 'Enough! This is how good we are and this is coal in West Virginia. And you better understand how good it is,' " Walker said. "If we just sit back and say nothing, the politicians are going to say they don't care. We can't allow that to happen."
Hancock said, "We have strength in numbers. We can make a noise." He asked every employee to sign up for Friends of Coal, and for married workers to sign up their spouse. He asked that employees and spouses each sign up 10 additional members.
The company will check to see that each employee does his or her part, Hancock said. He said there also will be drawings for prizes.
Walker spoke later in the day at the company's nearby truck engine facility and said he would deliver similar messages over the coming weeks at the company's other locations.
Contact writer George Hohmann at busin...@dailymail.com or 348-4836.