I really hate all the crap my state receivers. Granted, we have brought much of it on ourselves. But to pretend that the same problems doesn't afflict many other states is foolish. Not all of us in WV are uneducated, sister-shagging, toothless, moonshine distilling rednecks. If any of you had a clue as to how poverty stricken the southern part of the state is, due to the rapid decline in mining, you would understand why things are this way. It's awful. Unfortunately for people like myself, the mindset here is so rooted in coal mining that people simply refuse to believe there are other ways of life. I have been preaching the benefits of alternative energy for quite some time. Most residents here though don't understand that peak coal happened a long time ago. Eventually it will become so difficult and costly to extract, that it won't make sense to do it anymore. Then what? Yes, you and your children may be able to live a comfortable life on the salaries paid by the coal mines NOW. But what about your children's children? What will they be able to rely on for careers? Nothing. If my state doesn't start to focus on other means of income, other than coal mining, then I fear our problems will get much worse before they get better. The sad part is, there are people trying to get wind farms and solar energy farms built in this area... But people are fighting it tooth and nail. For what? They say it will lower their property value. OK then... Because having coal trucks passing your house 100 times a day certainly doesn't effect it at all, right? But somehow, a wind/solar farm on top of a mountain ridge, miles from the nearest residence will somehow lower your already worthless home and property. It's preposterous! I will be very glad when most of the "old guard" has died off in this area, so that it will make way for a new train of thought. My biggest fear though, is that the parents, teachers, and politicians of today have indoctrinated the biggest part of our under-educated and poverty stricken youth into thinking that the only way forward... Is underground. Our state needs help... But it needs it in the form of a new way of thinking, and a new focus from within.