WILLIAMSON – The more things change, the more they stay the same. That was the point made by Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship when he spoke at the annual Tug Valley Chamber of Commerce (TVCC) Annual Membership Banquet Thursday evening.

It was a varied group of professionals attending the function at the Brass Tree Restaurant in Williamson, which began with a reception at 6 p.m., with dinner following at 6:30. Restaurant owners, bankers, elected officials, teachers, and numerous other professions mingled with several current or previous mine supply business owners. Despite differences regarding business interest, the common thread holding the group together is their membership with the chamber of commerce.

Blankenship said the first time he spoke at TVCC was in 1984, and despite the 25 years that have passed, the challenges facing American industry many times are the same: a lack of vision.

“There were about 130 American citizens that had been held captive in Iran for 444 days at that time,” Blankenship said. “The result of that was that we had gasoline lines and a situation where the country was quite upset. Because of that, everyone thought there would be a big boom in the coal industry.”

Blankenship said that boom never occurred in Appalachia.

“In 1970, coal production in Wyoming was 11 million tons per year,” Blankenship said. “By 1984, it had grown to 145 million tons. Today, its about 495 million tons. The production has gone up by 484 million tons in Wyoming, while in West Virginia it is up 14 million tons and in Kentucky, it is down by five million tons. That is a lot of opportunity lost.”

Many coal companies shut down during that period, Blankenship said, when there was a 14-fold increase in Wyoming’s coal production.

“No one wanted to invest in this area, so we didn’t get the jobs,” he said. “West Virginia’s business climate then wasn’t much better than it is now.”

Opportunities were lost then, Blankenship went on to say, because business leaders did not look into the future. He said there are opportunities now, and the coal business should not fail to take note of those and act with an eye on the future of Mingo County.

“I am fearful that, as opposed to 1984, there are not opportunities in front of us,” he said. “We are under even more pressure to look ahead now.”

Blankenship said one of the problems that caused the breakdown of the mining industry in Appalachia was unreasonable demands by the United Mine Workers.

“They were insisting on the same requirements on our coal mines as the ones in throughout the country, even though the mining that was being done wasn’t even similar.”

Blankenship said he felt some of the problems facing the coal industry is due to legislation that is counterproductive to business.

“Politicians, in my mind, are not looking ahead,” he said. “Neither for the benefit of the country, the area or American workers. They’re blind to the merits of capitalism today. It is sad that the things that caused our problems, government regulations and so forth, are what we are getting more and more of today.”

Blankenship said he felt people in the coal industry didn’t understand his viewpoint.

“You have to be competitive. You can’t always take from the rich and give to the poor, or have empathy in your judicial decisions,” he said. “There are dozens of business people who tell me they don’t believe in global warming, but it is a political reality,” he said. “They feel if they speak out, they will receive extra scrutiny. They should speak out and weigh what they think.”

Blankenship went on to say that many environmental and safety regulations are impeding progress.

Massey Energy has a good pay rate and benefit package, Blankenship said, especially compared with workers in other countries.

“But when we are forced to comply with unreasonable work and safety rules, with ineffective environmental rules, it eliminates American jobs and industry, and pollutes the world with the very pollutants that we have spent years getting rid of.”

Blankenship said the situation of American business and industry comes down to the numbers.

“Math showed that Enron could not be making the profit they reported. Math showed that the United Auto Workers would bankrupt the auto industry, and that has happened,” he said. “The same is true with banks and the state of the economy. Not doing the math is what caused a lot of what we are suffering through today.”

“The math will eventually rule, and we need to be preparing for that individually and as a country.”

Several other individuals were key players in planning, promoting and hosting the banquet, including welcoming member Natalie Young, who is replacing Cecil Hatfield as director of the TVCC. Father Harry Dunn of Sacred Heart performed the invocation, after which TVCC President David Akers introduced Blankenship as the keynote speaker.

Hatfield fittingly gave the closing remarks, and Young dispersed door prizes before Father Dunn delivered the benediction.

The agenda for the event ended with a quote from Kahlil Gilbran, which expressed the way those in the Tug Valley who depend on coal for their sustenance feel about the recently controversial mineral.

“Perhaps time’s definition of coal is the diamond.”