West Virginia Governor Jim Justice said that God will “ give us time ” to sterilize climate change—“if ” it survive , he emphasized — if the U.S. acts now to increase fossil fuel production to respond to the burgeon energy crisis thanks to the invasion of Ukraine . I ca n’t believe I just typewrite that sentence , but here we are !
The remarks came during apublic briefingJustice gave on Monday that was supposedly a covid-19 update for West Virginia . After spend about 10 minute verbalize about the pandemic , Justice took a sharp pivot and started talk about the warfare in Ukraine and its implication for free energy in the U.S.—or , rather , what Justice think is happening here .
“ Our ember mineworker , our gas worker , our crude oil workers , they get up every morning , they get their dinner buckets , and they go get dirty , do n’t they , ” he state . “ Oftentimes they ’re doing stuff and nonsense that is extremely speculative . ” After delineate the late death of a West Virginia miner , Justice laud how coal miners “ carry through us in World War II and everything by leave us the ember that was mandatory to make brand , and absolutely preserved this land . ” He then goes on to blame the Biden governance for “ trying to extinguish them … Now all of a sudden we ’re on the threshold of World War III , maybe , and now who do they call ? … They call screaming , ‘ drill , baby , drill ! ’ ”
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice holds up his dog on Jan. 27, 2022, in Charleston.Photo: Chris Dorst/Charleston Gazette-Mai (AP)
I ’ll just let you read a ( slightly condense ) transcript of where this goes next , because it ’s really a journey :
dead today in many way , West Virginia , they could call on West Virginia , and West Virginia may be very well the accelerator to stop a portion of the carnage , to reward in many ways the fact that this country should be totally main . I perfectly put up rock’n’roll solid in favor of all the alternative energies . But I believe it is absolutely frivolous to think that today we can do in this country or this world without fossil fuel , and if we believe that we ’re going to have just what the deal has dealt to us right now . We ’re live to have chaos , we ’re going to have real problem . … I trust , and my opinion as strong is it may be , or can be , I believe with all in me , that we ’ll have meter and [ God ] will give us time as we go forth . If there is such a thing , and I underline if , if there is such a thing as clime change , I believe that he will give us time and the smart hoi polloi will fix it . But today , today energy is being used as a weapon . This country , hands down , needs to be totally zip independent . It is a watchword , lamentable ignominy to see what has happen under the Biden government in trying to absolutely cripple us . We have become weak , have we not ? ”
Whew !
Other than giving God some serious credit for their ability to un - fuck - up our shit — and coining the alarming set phrase “ on the brink of World War III , mayhap ” — Justice is doing some serious metaphorical lifting for the oil and accelerator pedal diligence . The idea that dodo fuel in the U.S. need to be entirely unregulated and promote for save us from an energy crisis is something that the industry has been yell from the rooftops . But the reality , as mostenergy expert would point out , is much more complicated , particularly since the U.S. , as a global exporter of fossil fuel , has fundamentally bond itself to the volatility of the global market place . Even though the Biden administration has put a lot ofwords behind its clime goals , it has also give ahell of a lot of complimentary rein to vegetable oil and gas drillers — not to cite that coaltook a steep downslope even under President Trump , who gave as many freebies to the give out industry as he could .
There ’s a particular irony to Justice , of all people , painting miners as victim of some outdoor mistreatment and talking about how dangerous their work is . Justice ’s family possess oodles of coal mine across five Appalachian State , and those mine have some serious issues . In 2014 , two old age before Justice was elected regulator , NPR reported that his mines owed around $ 2 million in outstanding safety - link up fines and hadminer injury rate more than twice the internal average . In 2019,NPR reportedthat those fines had ballooned to $ 4.3 million , accounting for almost 10 % of all outstanding debt from ember mine in the entire country .
“ [ Gov. Justice ] and his kin has simply chosen to disregard , flagrantly violate , continually violate and progressively despoil the rules of mine prophylactic and the penalty of mine safety gadget , ” a former Union mine safety official say NPR . ( Justice ’s familyagreed to give the prominent finesin 2020 . )
Justice ’s mines also have plenitude of environmental violations : In November , the country of Kentuckyfined Justice and his sonalmost $ 3 million for not clean up some ember mines in the eastern part of the state . With friends like these , God and the “ fresh people ” better get to work soon .
EnergyFuelsTrumpWorld War III
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