December 3, 2017            Letter-to-the-Editor Submitted by Eric Engle, Parkersburg

I’m not usually one to dabble in hyperbole, but I don’t think it’s the least bit hyperbolic to say that America is being “governed” by a fascist regime.

As I write this I have just read where Trump has retweeted three anti-Islamic tweets by a notorious British fascist, Jayda Fransen, who is facing charges of religiously aggravated harassment. Trump has repeatedly used his Twitter account, with approximately 43.5 million followers, to do things like hype conspiracy sites like MagaPill, retweet a Mussolini quote, share a post from an account called @whitegenocidetm, push false and racially inflammatory crime statistics, and more.

Trump famously accused New Jersey Muslims of celebrating the 9/11 terrorist attacks; accused Muslims of knowing about in advance and deliberately not reporting the San Bernardino mass shooting; he even claimed that an American general once defeated terrorism through mass execution with bullets dipped in pigs’ blood. All of this is verifiably untrue.

But words and tweets aren’t really the problem. Trump has appointed people to the administrative state and judiciary who are dismantling our institutions, including civil liberties protections, consumer protections, labor protections, and especially environmental and public health protections. Our government is now blatantly being handed over to industry, corporations, banking and financial interests, and the wealthiest 1 percent and especially 0.01 percent of Americans.

The hallmarks of fascism are hyper-nationalism and theocracy. We’re witnessing complete sociocultural capitulation to white male “patriots” and conservative evangelical protestants, especially with the threatened repeal of the Johnson Amendment in the House version of the tax reform bill, which has been embraced by Trump since his campaign.

I love our constitution and our multicultural society where all — regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, religious affiliation (or lack thereof), age, or physical and mental abilities — should be able to live peacefully and thrive. As such, I humbly ask that you join me in peaceful, non-violent resistance to the Trump regime.

Eric Engle     Parkersburg

Dec. 17 2017 Letter-to-the-Editor by Michael Ireland, Parkersburg, WV
The Parkersburg News and Sentinel

An early report shows a slight rise in West Virginia coal purchases as the holiday season begins. One analyst (me) thinks that reveals what the Friends of Coal will get in their Christmas stockings.
Michael Ireland
Parkersburg

Dec. 10 2017 Letters-to-the-Editor by Ron Teska, Belleville, WV
The Parkersburg News and Sentinel

We lost our spring when Consol energy plugged a gas well to longwall mine. We lost our water well due to EQT Corporation plugging a gas well. And we are not connected to the tank of chlorinated river water folks are now paying for that used to be their free ice cold crystal clear springs and wells.
Particles of dust as well as methane, toluene, etc., are emitted 24/7. I stopped at a local tavern with six people in the place and every one of them suffers from COPD.
The tanker trucks, and heavy equipment traffic on the roads that used to be dirt roads with grass growing down the middle are running people off the roads and creating accidents and making driving hazardous and toxic with diesel fumes. I talked to a neighbor and mentioned how I was getting run off the roads and he stated “Yea, they run me off the road too,” and lifted his shirt to show 30 stitches down his stomach.
Rents jumped from $200-$300 a month to $1200-$1600 a month per worker. Folks no longer can find places to live, as rental units will not rent for a low price anymore when they can get a lot of money. This appears like it is helping the local folks but in reality families are not renting to their own kin and marginal income folks are not able to stay where they have been for years due to this increase.
Heroine and opioids have infiltrated this area due to the workers and their money and situations.
A bale of straw went from $2 a bale to $16 a bale and gas prices are much higher than before or outside the work areas.
Folks that have lived here for generations are finding themselves taking $150,000 to $300,000 for their ancestral homes. I went to an auction of a 10 acre farm with a small house worth up until now about $40,000. The auctioneer started the bid at $125,000, and Consol Energy raised their hand; auction over. The couple with a baby in their arms waiting to bid on this farm near where their family lives just sadly walked away. And the owner of the farm bought a new pickup truck, went on vacation, and now lives in a camper. The house was torn down.

A local cemetery has had graves sink and the new high school has been cracked by longwall mining.
Ron Teska
Belleville

Dec. 3 2017 Letters-to-the-Editor by Judith Peascoe, Vienna, WV
The Parkersburg News and Sentinel

At the time the implementation of the Clean Power Plan is being debated and comments are being taken in Charleston, W.Va., regulators are debating the purchase of the Pleasants County coal-fired power plant.
In his News and Sentinel Letter to the Editor on Sept. 10, Jody Murphy, Executive Director of the Pleasants Area Chamber of Commerce, expresses his willingness to subsidize the purchase and operation of the Pleasants County power plant financially by paying an extra $5 a month to preserve the power-plant jobs.
Unfortunately, the plant’s technology is obsolete. It does not have the latest technology to prevent pollutants from spewing into the air–pollutants which cause susceptible people, especially children, to have asthma attacks. It produces waste contaminated with heavy metals that may not be properly and permanently contained.
Governor Justice has acknowledged that coal-fired plants are not competitive economically by asking for a federal subsidy for power plants purchasing coal. In addition, the West Virginia legislature and the federal government have weakened the Clean Water Acts to allow more toxic waste to be discharged into water flows. This is an open acknowledgment that coal-fired power plants should be phased out. In addition the Mid-Ohio Valley is noted for its health-damaging air quality.
Difficult times require novel solutions. My husband grew up in Los Angelos. Thirty-five years ago, California was faced with limited water supplies, horrible air quality and the need for more power. Rather than build new power plants the utilities and the state offered consumers inducements to conserve energy. The reduction in energy use meant that the utilities didn’t have to build new power plants. California is actively supporting renewable energy installations such as roof-top solar installations, wind farms, and solar farms, biomass, and hydro. This work provided jobs. Pollution was reduced. The air became cleaner. Recent reports tell us that solar and wind technology is now competitive in price with nuclear and coal power plants.
I would rather pay that extra five dollars on my utility bill to subsidize a plan of energy conservation, job retraining, reduced pollution and renewable energy generation than to subsidize an obsolete coal fired plant that First Energy wants to get rid of. That plant is no bargain for West Virginians.
Judith Peascoe