Dear Editor,
I was born in the mountains. My grandpa was a coal-miner and my daddy hauled coal out of Harlan and still burns coal in his Combustioneer stove at home. Though I live in the Bluegrass area now, I am still a mountain man at heart. But just the other day I heard someone from outside the coal-mining area of Kentucky say some things that made a whole lot of sense. I was at a meeting in London, Kentucky and the speaker was Dr. Rand Paul, a candidate for US Senate. He was answering questions about his positions on coal. Dr. Paul stated, “I think the people in the mountains should decide for themselves whether or not they should mine coal. After all, they are the ones living there.” Mr. Paul explained property rights, promised to vote against Cap and Trade legislation and to “sunset” some of the harmful EPA regulations on coal. I was really impressed with the character of Rand Paul and the respect for the mountain people he showed. Rand Paul is not a mountain man, but he seems to be good man and a real “Friend of Coal”.
