Last night I put up a quick diary at DKOS about a live online broadcast on a forum, debate, on the Future of Energy being held at the University of Charleston and streamed live to what looked like a full house. They have quickly broken up the video into three parts and placed them on YouTube as well as the Real News Networks website. The forum is about an hour and a half long and while civilized, as it should be, Kennedy keeps putting down pretty much every sorry excuse Blankenship tries to use in defending what he and the coal corporations are doing to West Virginia and the Heritage and Beauty of that State and this Country in the name of Great Wealth for the very few and less and less for the workers and residents of West Virginia and well beyond their state borders!
This is how they introduced the forum to the public:
The Forum on the Future of Energy is a public forum that will include a conversation between Don Blankenship, chairman and CEO of Massey Energy, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., president of Waterkeeper Alliance and an environmentalist. During the event, Blankenship and Kennedy will discuss environmental issues and energy policies that have an impact on jobs and the economy as well as national security. The event moderator will be Edwin H. Welch, president of the University of Charleston.
One of the first things to impress, whether you've heard Kennedy speak before or not, is his passion for the subject as well as his knowledge of not only what's going on but the history leading up to. One thing I quickly picked up on from Blankenship is the overused talking points on the fear factor of security of the country, his apparently feeling of his strong patriotism, but really for wealth and thus power alone, he mentions "terrorism and blowing up planes" a number of times while arguing against alternate energy development, as if that is the reason the criminal element of terror justifies the destruction of the Country as we knew it and should be leaving in tack to those who follow as most of it was left, and protected, for us.
And this is last nights forum:
Forum on the Future of Energy part 1
Forum on the Future of Energy part 2
Forum on the Future of Energy part 3
I understand the person or persons at DKOS with the DKGreenroots Series are planning just that a series of posts on the many issues, coal and coal mining being a part of, on these extremely important issues in the coming days. I would hope some use this forum and it's video's in their much better coverage then I can give it.