Bill Clinton talks coal in Prestonsburg

[book_worm]

PRESTONSBURG, Ky. Former President Bill Clinton braved what has become hostile territory for him and his wife, Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton, going deep into coal country Thursday in an effort to convince voters that she's not opposed to the industry.

He was met with shouts from unemployed coal workers and their families who had earlier stood outside the Prestonsburg Elementary School where he spoke, holding signs telling him to go home.

"I don't care if you boo or cheer. I'm glad you're here," he told the miners, who were allowed to stay throughout Clinton's remarks.

He laid out her plan to sink $30 billion into programs to train people and bring investment into economically distressed parts of the country.

Central Appalachia is a difficult region for Hillary Clinton as she tries to recover from comments she made in March that were seen in this area as advocating for the destruction of coal jobs, which are central to the region's economy.

As if to underscore what the speech would be about, Clinton was introduced on stage by former Gov. Paul Patton, who was a coal operator before he was elected governor.

Bill Clinton's speech, particularly near the beginning, was punctuated with loud boos from the back of the small grade school gymnasium, Clinton told the coal miners to bring it on, that people in America spend far too little time talking to people with whom they disagree.

He spoke for 25 minutes and while he urged those attending to vote for his wife in next week's Kentucky primary, Clinton acknowledged that many of them wouldn't.

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/elections/kentucky/2016/05/12/live-updates-bill-clinton-prestonsburg/84290146/

[SunSeeker]

1. Hillary is the only candidate with a viable plan to help coal country.

I am glad Bill is braving the Fox brainwashed crowds and trying to enlighten them.

[LiberalFighter]

2. I'm wondering about the unemployed coal miners.

Are they that stuck on doing nothing but coal mining that they are willing to live in poverty or avoid any possible improvement in their lives?

[IamMab]

3. I don't understand this. What part of "Why would you want to mine coal instead of sunlight" is too

difficult to articulate? I find myself filled to the brim with anger and disappointment that my Democratic candidate and her surrogates can't find a way to say, "Renewable energy is better, cleaner, safer, and has a brighter future than coal ever did" without making a gaffe out of it??

"Why would you want to work underground when you can work out in the daylight?"

"Why would you want to fill your lungs with coal dust when you could fill them with fresh wind blowing through the turbine farm?"

"Why would you want your kids to yoke themselves to a dying industry when they could be getting in early on emerging industries like wind and solar instead?"

For fuck's sake, this should not be that hard to discuss. And we shouldn't have to make empty promises to keep spending money on coal investment just because voters in a handful of states can't break their addiction to a dying fuel source!

[radical noodle]

5. A good bit of coal mining these days is above ground

They run huge machines to dig up the earth. In these poor rural areas it's the best jobs around. People grow up with the ambition to work for the mines. Many of them are undereducated because they could get a great paying job without much education. Some don't believe in climate change. They care about having a good income to pay the mortgage and utilites and don't look to the future.

Granted, it's short sighted but that's the case. I lived in a big coal mining area in Indiana and that's the way it was there. The mascot of one of the schools in the area is a Miner. It's been a huge deal for well more than a century. It isn't easy to shift gears and change.

[SharonClark]

4. My grandfather was a coal miner in Scotland

and immigrated to the US so his sons wouldn't have to work in the mines. In the US, he was a janitor and grandma worked in a large department store. They never owned a car but they were happy to be here and to live in their little 2-bedroom bungalow.