Jeffrey Kessler views the Obama-Biden duo as the right ticket to change America’s direction and recharge its once brilliant beacon on the hill as the light for all other nations to follow.

There is just one hitch.

Kessler wants a commitment from the Democratic standard bearers that coal gets a top priority in any national energy policy aimed at weaning America off its reliance on foreign oil.

“I want to make sure and he needs to understand that coal, quite frankly, has to be the linchpin and a major component of any energy-independent platform nationally,” the state Senate judiciary chairman said Tuesday while attending the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

“It’s easy for folks to say, ‘Well, coal is dirty, coal is this,’ but turn the lights off for a weekend. Shut them down for a weekend and watch the rest of the country crumble. They need it. You can’t get by without it. And it’s going to be that way for the next several decades, if not longer.”

Kessler, a former prosecutor in Marshall County, echoed a familiar mantra that reverberates across the hills of his native West Virginia — that the fossil fuel can be burned cleanly and that it offers a variety of alternatives, as evidenced in the recent announcement of a coal-to-petroleum plant in his home county.

“Coal has to be a major component of any national energy plan,” he said. “Otherwise, the rest of it is just blowing in the wind.”

Kessler painted a grim scenario of turning to nuclear power, setting up the prospect of a catastrophic meltdown that produces hundreds of thousands of deaths.

Given West Virginia’s vast reserves of coal, Kessler said, the state could ultimately bask as the “energy capital of the world.”

“I absolutely require it,” he said when asked if he needs a firm commitment to coal from both Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden as the campaign moves into high gear.

“We’re going to hold their feet to the fire.”

Otherwise, Kessler has no misgivings about Obama, and feels he is the right prescription to heal a broken nation.

“America has always been a beacon on the hill, the shining example for everyone, all countries to follow, and we’ve lost that,” Kessler said.

Not that he feels the light has gone out and leadership has vanished forever.

“I don’t think so, but I think it’s flickering,” he said.

“We can recharge it, refuel it and make it a bonfire again. And we need the right type of energy and right type of commitment. Just seeing how much money you can make for a select few is not doing anything to bring up the standard of living for the entire country.”

Granted, the constant use of “change” by the Obama camp wears thin with some folks, but Kessler says the nation does need some reforms in two areas — energy independence and a movement toward national health insurance.

Kessler finds his first-ever national convention exciting but the heavy security a little taxing at times.

“At the convention site particularly, it’s like going through airport screening times two,” he said.

“You can’t come within 2 miles of the place without proper credentials. They take you through sniffing dogs and everything else under the sun. Check under the hood. It’s like walking into Fort Knox to get into anywhere here. I’ve found that public transit is the best way to go.”

Even with the intense security and congestion, Kessler finds the convention exciting, if not a mite tentative on his part.

“It’s like anything you do for the first time,” he said. “Like the first time I walked on the Senate floor. Just keep your eyes and ears open, your back covered and your mouth shut. Just sort of listen and see how it unfolds.”

Kessler was impressed with Sen. Edward Kennedy’s surprise appearance, given his battle with a brain tumor, and the speech of Obama’s wife, Michelle.

“I thought Michelle did very well,” he said. “If she didn’t change any minds last night, folks have got rocks in their head. I thought she was very genuine and articulate and told a very compelling story on why it’s important we change the direction of the country.”

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com