After decades of assuming that the coal industry in West Virginia would last forever, there are now those who are beginning to question that assumption. On February 24 and 25 television station WOAY in Oak Hill included in its evening newscast a two part report on the future of the coal industry in West Virginia.

As part of the program, WOAY interviewed persons with various points of view. Former WVHC president John McFerrin offered the opinion that coal in West Virginia was a dying industry with only a short term future. The chief legislative lobbyist for the United Mine Workers offered the opinion that were he in school today he would not plan for a future in the coal industry.

Spokesmen for the coal industry offered a different perspective. Bill Raney of the West Virginia Coal Association observed that the coal industry was under attack by Washington bureaucrats but that if Washington would quit picking on West Virginia the industry could flourish for decades to come. Michael Miano, Director of the West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection, agreed that West Virginia was being unfairly singled out by Washington for regulatory attention.

In the second part of the story, WOAY examined the retraining programs that are being established for those who wish to (or are forced to) leave the coal industry.

One series by one television station does not indicate that West Virginia has reached a consensus on the need to begin preparing for the imminent demise of the coal industry. This is, however, an indication that the post coal economy is becoming a part of our public discussion. Even if it is a single station in a small town in southern West Virginia, it is significant that we are finally beginning to talk about the post coal economy. Even as recently as a year ago there was little, if any, discussion of the possibility that the coal industry in West Virginia is dying and that we should begin to preparing for the post coal economy.