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Joe Manchin, Climate Emergency, Politics
Many Democrats question Joe Manchin. Some even call him evil. Why? He is protecting as hard as he can the coal industry of his state. In this respect, he is following the exact path set by Senator Robert Byrd. Both men voted with the party…except when it comes to coal.
This is about local politics and how inelastic the economy is. Coal jobs are still good jobs. Some families have done them for generations. Moving away from coal is not as simple as closing the mines. The people who do these jobs, in some of the poorer areas of the country, have no concept of what could replace coal. Or to be more precise, that these new jobs could be as good as coal.
Manchin is protecting his right flank, and if he wants to be re-elected, he needs to protect coal. He seems to lack the political courage to challenge the state economy. It might be a lack of imagination or political belief. He may honestly doubt climate science, and not realize that protecting coal now, means a harder future for the species. It may also be another reality. His constituents are not going to move. We need a lot of investment in retraining and creating new industries, including good green energy. The geography of the state might make it difficult to bring these new industries in.
The workforce also makes it harder to bring other industries in. These include things…