A WV art form

I'm a bit behind in blogging (and I apologize for the annoying alliteration), but must call attention to an event earlier this week when Gov. Justice and representatives of extractive industries called a press conference to protest that old trope "the war on coal."

Here's coverage from the Gazette-Mail and WV MetroNews.

I get it. I mean, it's worked so well for them in the past, politically and economically.

This time the villain isn't a black man with an unusual name but rather rootless cosmopolitan New York financier Michael Bloomberg (do I hear another dog whistle going off?--that worked really well for them in the past as well.) This "limousine liberal" pledged to spend $500 million to put coal power plants out of business by 2030 in an effort to reduce the effects of climate change.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the short term profits of our rulers vastly outweighs the future of life on earth in terms of importance.

In any event, it had all the ingredients of a good old WV ruling class hissy fit, including a denial of climate change, the denunciation of  an "Other" from out of state and the portrayal of WV's colonial overlords as benefactors.

Here's my take: if they're that worried about it, they have a remedy within reach. $500 million is pretty close to the amount of regressive tax cuts business groups and the wealthy enjoy each year.