THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

Mitch "The Turtle" McConnell as Senate Majority Leader has plans to use the proposed Green New Deal as a weapon against the Democrats. The Turtle's opposition has some basis in politics, you don't want to give the other side any breaks. But Mitch has his own 'investment in buggywhips' or in his case coal.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wants to put Democratic presidential candidates in an uncomfortable position by forcing them to vote on the controversial Green New Deal being pitched by rising Democratic star Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

But he also wants to promote his own long-held support for not-so-green measures.

The Kentucky Republican routinely accused former President Barack Obama of waging a “war on coal” for imposing clean air standards on aging power plants.

And earlier this week, McConnell urged the Tennessee Valley Authority to keep open a coal-fired Kentucky power plant that the utility deemed unreliable and too expensive to repair.

“Kentuckians strongly oppose moving away from coal,” McConnell said in a video address to the utility that rejected his pitch Thursday, saying it wasn’t economically feasible to keep operating the final burner at the Paradise plant in Muhlenberg County.

“Coal has helped fuel our country’s greatness and it needs to be part of our energy future,” McConnell said.

The Green New Deal is a sweeping congressional resolution with few details but ambitious goals that aim to combat the effects of climate change. While it doesn’t mention coal, or oil and gas, it calls for meeting 100 percent of the power demand in the U.S. “through clean, renewable, and zero-emission energy sources.” It also calls for zero-emission vehicles and manufacturing.

While Kentucky is the third-leading state for coal production, the state has lost coal jobs in recent years, in part because the state doesn’t have as much metallurgical coal, used in steel making, as neighboring West Virginia. The number of jobs in Kentucky dropped to a record low of just over to 6,400 in 2018.

The loss of jobs, along with coal’s history in the state, leaves many lawmakers wary of what they see as overly aggressive efforts to combat climate change. They’re eager to shield the coal industry from further decline and to aid miners and their families.

In the Senate, McConnell has derided “show votes” that won’t clear the chamber, but this week he sped up the process to get the Democrats’ climate change measure to a vote, invoking the Senate rule that allows legislation to be brought directly to the Senate floor without committee consideration.

“I’ve noted with great interest the Green New Deal,” McConnell told reporters. “We’ll give everybody an opportunity to go on record and see how they feel about the Green New Deal.”

Democrats howled, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York accusing McConnell of a “cheap, cynical ploy.”

Yes it is a cheap cynical ploy, that's what The Turtle does so well. However, in doing so he harms the people of Kentucky who are once again left with no means to recover from the decline of a failing industry. And the cynical ones are the mine owners who seek to suck as much as possible out of their properties before abandoning them and the people they have used up and will cast away. But they will stand with The Turtle because the Turtle will stand for them.