The News Virginian, The Denver Post – Barack Obama need not ask how well he’s doing in coal country, because the answer is always the same: Not well. Read
A cerebral black man never had much of a chance in poor, rural white Appalachia; let’s be honest (though we don’t have to like it). In 2012, Obama lost to Mitt Romney in West Virginia by a 27-point margin. So Obama had little to lose politically in proposing new rules to cut carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants.
Some Democrats worry that coal country could deliver some vulnerable seats to Republicans, perhaps handing them the Senate majority. That could happen, but the fate of the planet should be more important than the 2014 midterms.
