We are ... West Virginia!
If you live in West Virginia, Kentucky or just about anywhere coal is mined, you have probably seen it -- on a helmet, a license plate, the back win- dow of a pickup truck. It’s on lunch boxes, shirts, yard signs, pens, pencils and football games. Its on every state championship trophy given out by the West Virginia Secondary Schools Athletic Commission, race cars, boats and even rubber coal. That little blue and black “Friends of Coal” logo is, it seems, everywhere.
But have you ever really asked yourself, “Just who are the Friends of Coal?”
Well, Friends of Coal is a grassroots group founded in Beckley in 2002 to lend its support to the West Virginia coal industry. In the beginning, the group was little more than a name and an idea -- that the West Virginia coal industry plays a critical role in the state’s economy and needed the support of its people.
Today, the Friends of Coal has spread to almost 50,000 people, with members in almost every state and several foreign countries. Headquartered in Charleston, the group also has independent chapters operating in Kentucky, Virginia, Ohio, Tennessee and several other states.
The Friends of Coal is no longer “just a name” but has morphed into an army of coal miners, their families, friends, neighbors, local and state business leaders, elected officials, doctors, lawyers, teachers, pizza delivery guys and students. It sponsors major sporting events, community fairs, little leagues, taking the message of coal to the people.
The message is simple: Coal mining is vital to West Virginia and to our nation.
It’s frequently noted that every coal mining job creates another five to eight jobs somewhere in the economy.
Anyone who has ever visited a coal mining community in West Virginia would have no hesitation in believing that statistic. It is likely no other state and industry are as closely identified as West Virginia and coal.
Friends of Coal is based on the simple premise West Virginia is full of people who understand and appreciate the value and the importance of the coal industry to the Mountain State and its people. It is a grassroots movement involving thousands of West Virginians who consider coal to be the lifeblood of the state’s economy.
We are ... West Virginia Coal!
These people have always been around. But they have never before been organized into a cohesive force capable of demonstrating just how many West Virginians are directly and indirectly involved with the coal industry.
Friends of Coal also was born out of a desire to correct the impression that coal’s time has passed in West Virginia.
The Friends of Coal Ladies Auxiliary is literally the “right arm” of the organization. The Auxiliary is active throughout the region. It has created a coal- oriented curriculum for use in the public school system, conducted charity drives, managed the production of several key events throughout the summer festival season and has reached out to the sick and infirm in local hospitals with visits and gifts. We are proud of our Ladies and the hard work they do for our coal mining families.
Coal supplies about 48 percent of this country’s electrical power demand, and West Virginia is the nation’s second largest coal producer. There is no danger the demand for energy will cease.
In a shrinking world community, however, competition for West Virginia’s traditional coal markets is increasing every year. States with less sensitive envi- ronmental concerns, and nations with low safety and environmental standards, low pay and government subsidies, are threats to the Appalachian coal’s place in the market.
West Virginia’s greatest advantages have always been the quality of its coal and its relative proximity to the markets. But, as transportation systems have gotten more sophisticated, and the production cost differential has grown, these advantages have diminished.
In other words, despite the best coal miners in the world, the best coal in the world and a growing demand for energy, West Virginia’s coal industry is still plagued by the uncertainties of the shifting marketplace.
As the industry streamlines and adapts to meet these challenges, it is increasingly important the Friends of Coal in West Virginia unite to speak with one voice.
It is up to the Friends of Coal to clearly demonstrate that coal must be a major consideration in the establishment of public policy in the state and in the nation.
