With Ohio being such a key swing state, it may have seemed strange that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney campaigned yesterday in what seems like the middle of nowhere in Beallsville in eastern Ohio. But itâs all part of the latest in the âwar on coalâ? in Ohio. For months, TV watchers in Ohio have seen ads from the political action committee the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity talking up coal jobs and blasting President Obama.
States that donât rely on coal pay nearly 70 percent more for their electricity than states that do. So why does this administration and their EPA continue to impose heavy-handed regulations on coal?
A week ago, the Obama campaign weighed in with a radio ad praising the Presidentâs record on coal. It includes the claims that coal jobs are up 10 percent and that a $5 billion investment in clean coal technology is one of the largest investments ever. The ad also blasts Romney for misrepresenting Obama when it comes to coal â and then hit harder:
But hereâs what Romney said in 2003 at a press conference in front of a coal plant: âI will not create jobs or hold jobs that kill people. And that plant kills people.ââ? So when it comes to coal, ask yourself: whoâs been honest, and whoâs playing politics?
Some environmentalists and progressive groups were angered by that ad, and say Obama shouldnât be criticizing Romney for saying âtrue things about coal." Thereâs now an online petition asking the President to pull the ad. But mine workers seem to be caught in the middle. The United Mine Workers, the 105,000 member union that endorsed Obama in 2008, appears poised to make no endorsement in this presidential campaign. But the AFL-CIO, of which the UMWA is a part, is sending out mailers in coal country. Those mailers feature AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka, a former coal miner who lost his father to black lung disease, saying that âwe canât afford people like Mitt Romney who are putting corporate profits before worker health and safety.â? Then just last Friday, a coal plant in Brilliant in extreme eastern Ohio closed down and 56 workers were laid off. Mine owner and Republican donor Robert Murray has very publicly laid the blame for the shutdown squarely on President Obama â including in an interview with an eastern Ohio TV station, posted on Youtube by the Republican Party.
Doesnât make any difference whether youâre a Republican or Democrat, but not Obama. Iâm twice over the largest employer in this area. And I know I canât keep these jobs here.
And then thereâs Romney campaign stop at another coal plant owned by Murray Energy. The Republican spoke with dozens of hard-hatted mine workers behind him and told him Robert Murray himself had played him the Obama radio ad.
I just scratched my head. He talks about how wonderful it is, and how weâre adding jobs in the coal industry and producing more coal. And I thought, how in the world can you go out there and just tell people things that arenât true?
Romney also paraphrased another GOP ad, in which Obama says that if a company builds a new coal plant it will âgo bankrupt," and noted that Vice President Joe Biden said that âcoal is more dangerous than terrorists." In 2008, Ohioâs coal country was split in its presidential vote. Romney notes that to win Ohio, Obama has to win eastern Ohio. But so does Romney â he nearly lost the March primary to Rick Santorum, primarily because of Santorumâs strong showing in eastern Ohio.