Byrd's coal comments rock W.Va.

By ALEX ISENSTADT | 12/18/09 4:33 AM EST

An extraordinary recent statement by Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) has stunned his coal-dependent home state


Pro-coal supporters protest against Robert Kennedy Jr.'s call for an end to mountaintop removal mining on Coal River Mountain at a rally outside the headquarters of the state Department of Environmental Protection in Charleston, W.Va. Photo: AP

An extraordinary recent statement by Sen. Robert Byrd has stunned his coal-dependent home state and left West Virginia politicians and business leaders scrambling to understand the timing and motivation behind his unexpected discourse on the future of the coal industry.

In an early December op-ed piece released by his office — also recorded on audio by the frail 92-year-old senator — Byrd argued that resistance to constraints on mountaintop-removal coal mining and a failure to acknowledge that “the truth is that some form of climate legislation will likely become public policyâ€