The State Journal – Is WV doing enough to prepare for the downsized role of coal in the state economy? Read
Cal Kent and Ted Boettner inhabit opposite ends of the political spectrum, but they agree that West Virginia must face the fact that coal soon will play a smaller role in the state’s economy.
“Coal just isn’t going to be the source of state revenue as it has in the past,” said Kent, director of the BB&T Center for American Capitalism and a distinguished fellow in economics at Marshall University.
In a separate interview, Boettner, executive director of the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, said he “fears we’re heading toward a hard landing” if the state doesn’t prepare for a downsized coal industry.
