Coal supporters rally before Obama’s W.Va. visit

Coal industry supporters protested against President Obama’s environmental policies in Charleston, W.Va., before Obama’s visit Wednesday.

Carrying signs with phrases like “Obama is not West Virginia’s president” and “WV = coal, Obama = disaster,” the coal industry joined state officials and industry supporters in a public showing against the president, according to the West Virginia State Journal.

{mosads}“This is a rally for everyone that tries to make a living from the mining industry,” State Sen. Daniel Hall (R) told the newspaper.

“I’m here to support the miners as well as the oil and gas folks that stand up against Obama’s continuous overreach with his unwarranted EPA regulations against our industries,” said Brock Crites, an oil and gas industry worker who added that he hopes the rally “gets back to [the president] someway or another.”

Obama is going to Charleston to talk about drug addiction problems and their impact on rural communities, including those in West Virginia.

Chris Hamilton, co-chairman of the West Virginia Coal Forum, linked drug addiction to Obama’s policies that have hurt coal.

“His administration’s regulation of the mining industry has contributed to the loss of more than 8,000 direct mining jobs and tens of thousands of support positions in our state,” Hamilton said, according to the State Journal. “Lack of employment — and the hopelessness that creates in the individual — is certainly a contributing factor to substance abuse, and we hope he recognizes that during his visit.”

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey planning to lead about 15 states in challenging Obama’s carbon dioxide limits for power plants in court.

Morrisey, a Republican, made a similar connection in a statement in advance of Obama’s visit.

“The president’s policies have consigned our state to poverty and have caused a loss of hope in our citizens,” he said.