This morning's lead editorial in the Charleston Gazette discusses the recent EPA plan:

(C)ritics like to say such a plan to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change is some misguided or unfair effort to reconfigure the energy industry.

However, the energy industry has already reconfigured itself. That was done for decades by mechanization and more recently by hydraulic fracturing that has poured cheaper natural gas onto energy markets.

The “War on Coal” is a very successful PR campaign, but there is no truth in it. The coal industry is struggling from the same kind of economic forces and decisions that all industries must weather. So many coal companies are hurting now because of decisions those companies made over the last decade.

Rather than our trying to reverse the present and forestall the future, the Gazette argues that we need to take a closer look at the president's proposals:

Obama’s proposal includes help for communities that should no longer expect the next coal boom to be around the corner. His Clean Power Plan offers protection for retiree benefits, health care, job training and seed grants to help communities plan and invest in the next iteration of their local economies.

All that and heading off the worst of climate change too.

This perspective is one that we don't get here in Ogdenland where the coal companies' point-of-view dominates the front and editorial pages. It's definitely worth a read.