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By JOHN WICKLINE
The Kyoto Global Warming Treaty is not an environmental issue, coal leaders testified before two congressmen on Tuesday, but a way to cripple American manufacturing and devastate its economy.
"The subject of the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty is a human issue, not an environmental matter, to me,'' said Robert E. Murray, president and chief executive officer of Murray Energy Corp., which operates coal mines in Ohio and Pennsylvania. "I know the names of many of the people whose jobs, standards of living and lives would be destroyed in the this area if the United Nations' Kyoto Global Warming Treaty were ever adopted by the United States.
"This region is desperate for good-paying and well-benefitted jobs,'' Murray told U.S. House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Calif., and U.S. Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, during the hearing held at Belmont Technical College in St. Clairsville. "Our people just want to earn a reasonable living with honor and dignity. Our young people want to stay in the area and have good employment. Many times, grown men and women have broken down and cried in my office when I told them that we had a job for them. They know that with high pay and excellent benefits provided by coal mining, they can build the lives of their dreams, be with their families and retire with dignity.''
The Clinton administration in 1997 signed the Kyoto Treaty that forces nations with the most advanced pollution control technologies to drastically reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. But countries with primitive pollution control measures, such as China, India and Mexico, are exempted from the provisions even though China already burns more coal than the United States.
The Senate has not ratified the treaty, and it does not have the support of President Bush. To implement the Kyoto Treaty, it has been estimated that it would cost the nation's industries about $350 billion per year and would increase to about $1 trillion by 2050. That cost, which would also be passed on to the American consumer, would force companies to curtail cost by reducing labor.
"In short, Kyoto means 'pink slip' in French,'' said Pombo.
The treaty, which Ney called a severely flawed agreement, has already been ratified by 108 countries.
"The Kyoto Protocol poses a significant risk to the future of our national economy, while at the same time excluding some of the world's largest polluters,'' Ney said. "This agreement is particularly unfair to the American worker. While our work force strives for increased efficiency, Brazil, India, Mexico and China are given a free pass.''
Babe Erdos, an international executive board member for the United Mine Workers of America, said studies have indicated implementation of the agreement would result in the elimination of between 58,000 and 86,000 coal mining jobs in Ohio alone.
"Coal mining is a unique industry and profession,'' Erdos said. "To many, it is more of a culture than a profession. More often than not, mining is located in rural areas of our country. It is no different in Ohio. There is usually little hope of acquiring another good-paying job with any benefits in these small, rural communities. In rural Ohio, many of these communities are based on one industry. When coal mining, steel or other basic manufacturing jobs are gone, it is difficult for these communities to survive.''
"Coal miners are like soldiers, as they too are justifiably proud professionals,'' added Buckeye Industrial Mining Co. President John Grisham. "They are among the most productive workers anywhere. Every time the bar is raised to do more, they meet the challenge with determination, grit and a 'bring-it-on' attitude which has consistently met the energy challenge of America.''
University of Alabama professor John Christy said carbon dioxide is not a pollutant, but instead represents life itself. He said the element is as vital as oxygen and sunlight in the living process.
Christy, a professor of atmospheric science and the director of the Earth System Science Center at the Huntsville campus, said implementation of the Kyoto agreements would not significantly reduce the world's pollution because Third World countries would still be allowed to release toxins into the environment.
"Raising the cost of energy without any conceivable benefits is precisely what Kyoto will do,'' Christy said. "The climate is not going in a dangerous direction at all. You could trade good carbon dioxide to clean up the toxins. Access to energy means life, (and) it means a longer and better life. Access to inexpensive, efficient energy would enhance the lives of the (Third World residents), while at the same time, enhance the environment.''
Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp. spokesman James Kosowski said the domestic steel industry could not compete in a global market with the high energy costs that would be brought about with implementation of the Kyoto Treaty.
"Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel is already spending more than $50 million every year to operate and maintain its pollution-control equipment, something that the steel industries in developing countries like China and India do not do,'' Kosowski said. "Many people contend that the Kyoto agreement is not about the environment, (but) about the economy. It is about increasing the costs of manufacturing and business in the United States - the world's most dynamic economy, the world's largest economy and the world's most efficient user of energy for manufacturing and business.
"The Kyoto agreement would act as a 'smart bomb,' designed to eliminate manufacturing in the United States while leaving behind unemployed workers.''
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