This letter was published in yesterday’s Charleston Daily Mail in response to Ken Ward’s article in Sunday’s Gazette Mail.
Buried deep in Ken Ward's article, "Coal costs outweigh benefits, WVU study finds" in the Sunday Gazette-Mail is a disclaimer directly from the study's author, Michael Hendryx, that pretty well says it all.
I quote from the article: "Despite the significant associations between coal mining activity and both socio-economic disadvantage and premature mortality, it cannot be stated with certainty that coal mining causes these problems."
You had to read the entire article to find this disclaimer and I doubt very many read that far.
It is a shame that one of our native reporters and this WVU researcher seem to take delight in maligning our state, our industry and its people with misleading headlines and statements that are based on the researcher's personal opinions and subjective suppositions, and include only the statistics that are convenient to their negative goals.
It's also disappointing when our university's name is used in an attempt to validate a political statement as a scientific study.
It would be admirable if the writer and the researcher would present the facts, if they really have facts, as opposed to presenting personally motivated conclusions - then later in the report and article admitting that conclusions cannot really be drawn from the information.
The public would have been less embarrassed by the researcher writing a column citing his opinions and associations instead of trying to pass a novel off as a scientific study.
Our state, our people and our university deserve better.
Bill Raney
Charleston
Raney is president of the West Virginia Coal Association.
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