Rather than unload on the industry, a coal leader suggested Friday that Sen. Robert C. Byrd use his clout on Capitol Hill to get stalled mining permits approved by the Obama administration to keep southern West Virginia miners earning a paycheck.

Bill Raney, head of the West Virginia Coal Association, disputed Byrd’s tongue-lashing of the industry a day earlier, saying all the conversation from his end has been to keep coal moving to feed the nation’s energy needs.

Byrd scolded the industry, accusing it of using “scapegoating and stoking fear among workers” while the Environmental Protection Agency holds up 23 permits in this state and 56 others in coal-producing states to see if prospective jobs are in conflict with the Clean Water Act.

“We remain absolutely focused and concerned about our people in southern West Virginia,” Raney said.

“And if the senator, with his leadership, is ready to weigh in with this and continue discussions that help us get permits, that get our people working, then I’ll drive all night to meet whomever he wants me to meet, wherever, or any of our people will, if it helps get permits in West Virginia.”

Raney said he read the entire remarks Byrd issued Thursday, in which the senator chided the industry, saying it was trying to spark public unrest against the EPA over regulatory matters.

“... when coal industry representatives stir up public anger toward federal regulatory agencies, it can damage the state’s ability to work with those agencies to West Virginia’s benefit,” Byrd, D-W.Va., said in his statement.

“This, in turn, may create the perception of ineffectiveness within the industry, which can drive potential investors away.”

Raney said the industry’s concern has been about certainty within the permitting process to assure investments in coal.

“This investment is important because it allows people to continue to work, and that’s what we’re after,” the coal leader said.

“It’s making sure we continue to use West Virginia coal in as many places as much as we possibly can. That’s the critical thing we need to do — to make sure the coal comes from West Virginia.”

Raney found Byrd’s “scapegoating” remark difficult to understand, saying neither he nor anyone else within the industry had engaged in such tactics.

“They’re expressing enormous concerns because there’s a whole lot of pensiveness about whether the next permit is going to be issued or whether or not you’re going to be able to compete in the market place and is the coal going to come from West Virginia, or will it come from someplace offshore,” he said.

“There’s not been any conscious effort to do whatever that word ‘scapegoating’ means, and I’m not sure exactly what that is. Our effort has been absolutely sincere and I certainly think the senator probably understands the fact that we’ve been sincerely trying to make sure our people have continued places to work and are able to mine coal. They’re the best coal miners in the world and we want them to continue to stay right here in West Virginia.”

Byrd said mountaintop mining has “a diminishing constituency” in Washington, and a sustained outrage by industry over the EPA could “risk the very probable consequence of shouting ourselves out of any productive dialogues with the EPA and our adversaries in the Congress.”

The senator labeled as “foolish” the idea advanced by some to hold the Obama health care package in limbo until the mining permits are approved.

“It is morally indefensible,” he said. “It is a non-starter and puts the entire state of West Virginia and the coal industry in a terrible light.”

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com