Dear Mr. President,

Dear Mr. President,
I heard on the news today that you intend to nominate a new head for the EPA and Energy Dept.
What I wish to talk about is the way of life here in these mountains. These beautiful, majestic mountains that surround us and give us shelter and protection. Our well-being, our livelihood, is built here in these mountains. We take shelter in them from tornadoes and hurricanes, we build strong foundations for our homes on them and raise families in those homes. We bury our loved ones in those mountains, we gather for church meetings and family reunions in these mountains. We climb them for comfort and alone time and just to see the beauty from way up there. No one loves the mountains as much as we do.
...and we also dig coal from these mountains; from underneath them and off the tops of them. Our men come home black and dusty from head to toe in the evenings. Our vehicles, our clothes washers and the rug at the front door are all ruined from the black stains of coal dirt. Wives vacuum and scrub and shampoo before deciding "that's as good as it's gonna get." Stop at a small local gas station and chances are, you'll see a black face and a dirty body clad with reflective stripes digging in his pockets for quarters for a candy bar after a long hard day's work. At night, we are lulled to sleep by the distant sound of a train whistle as the coal cars make their way to and from stock piles, coke ovens and production plants. By day, the sound of a Jake brake is so common we barely notice it. We follow closely behind coal trucks on mountain roads because they know the road even better than we do, and they have a radio to tell the guy coming the opposite direction that there's a car following. We dodge potholes that have been ignored because the local D.O.T.'s know they'll soon be replaced with more if fixed. When we cross a state line, we immediately realize how the air is different.
... But that way of life is changing. The dust is settling and the air is clearing. Our ears are ringing and the roads have gone near silent. When a coal truck passes by, we catch our breath and wonder where they are coming from and where they are headed to. The trains sit still in the yards with their empty cars, and the stock piles get higher and higher until one day the belt stops running. Men no longer come home with black faces, their shirts are plain, no longer striped with reflective tape. Wives try to find ways stretch a dollar while husbands try to figure out how to put gas in their work trucks so they can drive to job sites and beg for a job. "For Sale" signs show up on homes, vehicles and anything else of small value. More and more yard sales pop up and little nick nacks that will hopefully fetch a good price by the side of the road. Maw & Paw shops go out of business, as no one has enough money to spend on luxuries like eating out or other frivolties.
So my question to you, Mr. President, is how is this good for the economy? How is this building jobs? Expensive regulations forced on businesses cannot be paid, therefore neither can the men be paid.
What you don't realize, is that coal is not just a job. It's a way of life, it is the culture of our region. You wouldn't take the cheese out of Wisconsin, would you? Could you saw down the peach trees in Georgia or the orange trees in Florida? How about if D.C. had no politicians? It just doesn't make sense. Don't attack the livelihood of thousands of people- thousands of VOTERS- support it. Help it. Find ways to work with it and make it better. But please, Mr. President, don't take away our identities.
Sincerely,
A concerned Patriot