Pay fines, avoid laws

Dear Editor:

I would like to tell the friends and families of the 29 souls lost in the most recent mine disaster in West Virginia, you have been in our family’s prayers. We cannot fathom your loss. To Massey Energy, which seems to have put profit above human decency and respect for precious lives, may God have mercy on your souls.

I want to take issue with Christina Vogt’s ridiculous assertion in last week’s letter that Congresswoman Capito should throw away the coal industry “to redefine WV as a cutting edge energy state.” I assume she means we need to abandon the use of a natural, God-given resource so we can depend on solar panels or some such other “green” solution (which we will probably end up buying from China, the world leader in building solar panels.)

I am fed up with the global warming outcry which is based on propaganda coming from the likes of Al Gore, who has made billions hawking the end of the earth as we know it. It’s all a scam, ignited by faulty science put forth by a few liberal professors wanting federal dollars diverted into their university coffers.

The rest of this nonsense is simply big government’s insatiable need to grab power and control of lives by legislating every move we make. We need to rely on coal, natural gas and oil which can be found here in the U.S. rather than on Arab nations, who hate us, to supply our needs.

I have been telling my husband that we will likely lose our health insurance now that the health care bill is law. After reading Nina Schwartz’s letter last week, I think she sees my point.

Massey Energy chose to pay the fines rather than fix the cited problems, thereby giving those miners a safe place to work — the “bottom line/profits” motivated their decision to ignore impending disaster.
What makes any of us think our employers won’t pay the fines and shove us into the government health care system (overloading the system, and leading to rationing)? The “fine” is cheaper than paying even the insurance premiums.

Though there is a law on the books, that law has a back door since simply paying those fines is cheaper than obeying the law. Never should any business/individual be allowed to pay a fine in lieu of obeying the law. That's what needs to change, not our use of coal.

J. Ellen Spieles
Berkeley Springs