Labor and industry team up to educate public on coal
Labor and industry are teaming up to keep coal burning brightly in Western Pennsylvania.
Coal United was formed to heighten residents’ awareness of the importance of coal to the region’s economy.
The partnership was announced Tuesday by John Pippy, chief executive officer of the Pennsylvania Coal Alliance, and Raymond C. Ventrone, business manager for Boilermakers Local 154, based in the Banksville section of Pittsburgh.
Energy United is pushing for a U.S. energy policy that would make use of abundant coal supplies and strive for affordable, reliable electricity while employing environmental safeguards that are now in place.
“We don’t need to choose between a clean environment and affordable, reliable electricity and the jobs and economic benefits that go along with that,” Pippy said in a news release. “The working class is bearing the brunt of the policies advocated by the anti-energy crowd.”
His organization is an initiative designed to inform the public and policymakers about coalin the state.
Ventrone said: “I’ve witnessed the environmental progress our region has enjoyed over the last 40 years. I know we can have jobs and protect the environment at the same time. Let’s not relegate coal energy, our ace in the hole versus the rest of the world, to the bench simply for ideological reasons.”