All others were shunted into another room where they watched the proceedings on a video monitor. Pro and anti speakers were limited to five minutes, with no time allowed for questions by the task force members. Coal association lobbyists and miners working on mountaintop removal jobs dominated those speaking in support of the practice. Opponents were primarily citizens whose homes and livelihood were being threatened. The task force is overloaded with apologists for the coal industry and mountaintop removal.
Citizens directly affected by the practice are noticeably absent.
The task force will have failed in its mission if it concentrates on cash register items without focusing on the serious human problems suffered by citizens in the coalfields. The task force will have failed in its mission if it does not internalize the total costs of mountaintop removal, including the degradation of the streams resulting from valley fills. The task force will have failed in its mission if it fails to focus on the monetary benefits flowing to West Virginia from the tourists who come here to enjoy landscapes and not moonscapes. Most of all, the task force will have failed in its mission if it attempts to offer a few general palliatives such as urging the Legislature to revisit the infamous mitigation bill, or expressing concern for those citizens affected by the blasting. It is perhaps too much to expect from a group dominated by cheerleaders for mountaintop removal that they could come up with a searching and objective report clearly aimed at solving the human problems accompanying this practice.