Simple fairness demands that the nation address the economic plight of coal country with a focus on mining families. Miners risk their lives and health every time they go underground. The product of their work has powered our nation for generations. As we transition away from coal as a power source, we owe these people economic justice. It ought to be a national legislative priority ("About that clean coal business…," Oct. 11).
We should declare a war on coal region poverty, invest in research and new technologies to make environmentally-sound use of coal as a resource, guarantee health insurance for miners and their families and uplift these areas by building new-energy research labs and factories in coal-mining regions.
History shows that public investment such as this will be repaid in full and, more importantly, provide hope and better living conditions for generations to come.
Ed Goldberg, Reisterstown