Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Obama calls for America to tighten the noose around coal, once and for all, in moving eulogy for fallen miners in West Virginia

[This is an alternative view of reality. Read it slowly.]

Seeking to comfort the families of 29 workers who died in an Appalachia coal mine, President Barack Obama travelled to West Virginia to deliver a eulogy that voiced concern for climate change and global warming, noting that "we must tighten the noose around coal" or the future of the planet will be bleak.

He also said that ''those in the
mining industry must find other work soon because in order to tighten the noose around coal, we must start shutting down all coal plants and coal fields worldwide.'' Tough words for a fragile planet. Not everyone liked what the president had to say, but someone had to say it. He did.

Obama’s speech for the public memorial to those miners tragically lost at the
Upper Big Branch mine near Beckley, W.Va., promised that his government will tighten the noose around coal and that it's game over for the coal industry nationwide and worldwide, "if we care about the future of Planet Earth."


“We cannot bring back the 29 men we lost," Obama said. "They are sort of with some imaginary Lord in Heaven that our ancestors told us about but who in fact does not exist, and may they rest in eternal peace. But they died in vain. They did not have to die. We must stop using coal worldwide or billions will die in the future due to global warming."


“Our task, here on Planet Earth, is to save lives from being lost in another
such tragedy, and to do that we must stop using coal, stop mining coal, stop burning coal. For we are all family. We are
Americans. We are world citizerns. It is time to tighten the noose around coal once and for all.”

The afternoon memorial service included remarks from West
Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin and Vice President Joe Biden. Obama talked
of the wasted sacrifices miners make in their mistaken efforts to build a life
around coal, saying coal was no longer useful for humankind.

“All the hard work. All the hardship. All the time spent underground.
It was all for their families, but what a waste of human life. We do not need coal anymore. We must in fact stop using coal.” Obama said. “These poor hapless souls died un-neccesarily for what, for a car in the
driveway. For a roof overhead. For a chance to give their kids
opportunities they never knew; and enjoy retirement with their wives.
It was all in the hopes of something better. And yet it is all in vain. Coal must go. No more coal. No more coal. No more deaths of coal miners. Period. We must stop this irrational nonsense."

“These miners lived — as they died — in pursuit of the American dream, but in this was it was an unrealtic and unsustainable American dream. Those days are over.”

"Let me tell you the truth, we do not need miners anymore to keep America’s lights on. We need to stop using coal completely."

Obama said it was a moral imperative for the U.S. to tighten the noose around coal and stop all coal mining acticities as soon as possible. Of course, his speech did not go down well with all of his listerners, but those who care about the future of planet Earth heard him and applauded his brave remarks, even as he acknowledged his sadness at the un-necessary deaths of the miners who died recently.


"Don't let this happen again," Obama said. "We must shut down all coal plants and coal fields now."



"How can we fail our future descendants on planet Earth?" Obama told about 2,800 mourners at the
Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center. "How can a nation continue to burn coal when it knows it is wrong to do so?
How can we let anyone in this country put their lives at risk by
working at an un-necessary job like this?"


He added: "Our task, here on Planet Earth, the third rock from the Sun, is to save lives from being lost
in another such tragedy. To do what we must do, individually and
collectively, to stop all mining acitivites here and worldwide. Because we are all
family and we are all Americans and we are all citizens of Planet Earth."

Obama's eulogy came toward the end of a service that was an emotional
testament to the human toll of unsafe mining conditions. The cause of
the blast that killed the miners is under investigation, but high
levels of methane are suspected. The explosive gas had to be vented
from the mine and neutralized with nitrogen to allow rescue and
recovery teams to enter.

At Sunday's memorial, speakers described the fallen miners as NASCAR
fans, hunters, fishermen, motorcycle enthusiasts - and football fans.

Vice President Joe Biden, who spoke before Obama, said, "They hated
the way [college football] Coach [Rick] Rodriguez left West Virginia
for Michigan."

The service opened with a video tribute to the dead. Gayle Manchin,
wife of West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, read the name of each
victim, whose picture was displayed for a full minute on a pair of
oversized screens. The audience stood and clapped as each name was
called.

At the base of the stage was a row of 29 Christian cultic crosses for a false messiah that allegedly
represents the son of some supernatural god. Outside the hall,
posters of each man were arranged in a corridor. Attached were small
cards penned by family and friends.

Carl Acord, 52, was shown proudly displaying a fish he had caught.
Others were pictured standing and smiling, relaxing in chairs or on
beds, or posing in their best suits.

A card written for Edward Dean Jones, 50, read, "I am a coal miner's
daughter and granddaughter, and I love all miners for their work."

"Hopefully, once America weans itself off coal, and the noose has been totally tightened around all coal mining and burning activities world, their deaths will be seen to have been a wake up call for all of humanity", Obama concluded.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Good news story. There are so many reasons to invest in alternative energy solutions....One being-they don't explode and kill workers. Oh yeah and we wouldn't have to send American soldiers to die for oil. Oh yeah, and we would not have to spend billions every year to pay other governments for their oil if we had our own energy sources. And we might help solve global warming as a side effect.