Another op-ed piece

This morning's Intelligencer published an op-ed piece by Attorney General Morrisey which explains his justification for today's appearance before the U.S. Court of Appeals to fight the Clean Power Plan. (Note -- Morrisey op-ed is not on the Intelligencer site. Link is to the Daily Mail editorial page.) A bit self-serving ("I was not content"), the op-ed makes the usual assertions about the implementation of the plan: lost jobs and wages, lower local income, and higher energy costs for consumers. As with the local "newspapers," these come with no evidence and, more importantly, no acknowledgement that the energy picture is rapidly changing primarily because of market forces rather than EPA actions. (See one post down for instance.)

Despite these economic changes and a national electorate that increasingly wants something to be done to lessen climate change, West Virginians continue to require candidates to pledge allegiance to the belief that coal can once again be returned to its glory days. (For example, Morrisey's opponent, Democrat Doug Reynolds, essentially echoes Morrisey on coal in yesterday's paper. ) Yes, it's hard not to conclude that we get the candidates we deserve.

A recent poll on the attorney general race

Yesterday, Metro News published the results of the most recent state poll by Garin-Hart-Yang Research Group on the attorney general's race:

West Virginians are voting for Republican Donald Trump by a strong 60%-28% margin, but they nonetheless show a strong willingness to vote a “split-ticket” and back Democrats in state races.

In the attorney general’s race, Doug Reynolds has made up tremendous ground and is now in a statistical tie with GOP incumbent Patrick Morrisey, trailing him by a only one point (37%-36%) in the four-way trial heat, which is well within the poll’s margin of error.

This probably means even more coverage of Morrisey in the local "newspapers."