Published: May 05, 2008 10:00 pm         

Pugh says Obama can ‘bring this nation together’

Viewing the Illinois senator as the voice of compromise, Beckley Mayor Emmett Pugh endorsed Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama and predicted Monday he would make coal an integral part of any national energy policy.

“Coal needs to be a part of his energy plan, and I know it will be,” the mayor told reporters at a news conference in his office. “I think he understands small towns, much more so than Sen. (Hillary) Clinton.

“We want to balance mining versus the environment. I think it’s something we can agree on.”

Pugh suggested there might not be a middle ground on mountaintop mining and said he thinks the industry’s future lies in underground extraction, especially in southern West Virginia.

Joining Pugh was Dan Reitz, a member of the Illinois Legislature and a 17-year veteran of underground coal mining, who said Obama intends to assign coal a major role in the nation’s energy outlook with an eye toward lessening America’s reliance on foreign oil.

“We can’t run this nation unless we use coal,” Reitz said. “We need to invest in clean coal technology and put people to work and burn our coal and fuel our country in a clean, efficient manner.”

Reitz said Illinois lawmakers beefed up his state’s mine safety laws in the wake of the Sago tragedy that left a dozen miners dead in an underground mine in Upshur County.

“He has an uncanny sense of just bringing people to the table and reaching a compromise on an issue,” Reitz said of Obama.

“He has a quick grasp of the issues and I think he understands people in West Virginia, how important coal is, and how it’s the lifeblood of this state.”

Reitz suggested an Obama presidency would have room for renewable sources of energy, “but when people turn a light on, they want to make sure it comes on. They don’t want to look out the window and make sure the wind’s blowing or the water’s running.”

Illinois’ mining industry was “devastated” by the Clean Air Act, but Reitz emphasized the Democratic presidential nominee wouldn’t seek to “soften” it, but work with all stakeholders to forge “a sensible plan.”

“We need a balance across the nation to make sure we use our vast resources and use them in an environmentally friendly manner,” he said.

Pugh told reporters he thinks Obama can develop an exit strategy from Iraq that preserves America’s honor.

“My son flew out of the Theodore Roosevelt in the eastern Mediterranean in Iraq,” the mayor said. “He was a Navy pilot and he was extremely gung-ho about doing his mission, and he did his mission,” he said.

But the mayor complained that the Bush administration simply had no strategy for pursuing warfare against the forces of terrorism.

“We need to figure some way to get us out of Iraq with our head held high and move on,” Pugh said.

“I look at a number of programs we have now that are wanting for a lack of money, because we are just funding billions and trillions of dollars for the war in Iraq. I’m seeing more and more people fall through the cracks in the system that we currently have that really, really need some help. We need to get back to the basics. We need to make sure this country is the best it can be and go from there.”

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com