Picture rolling hills dotted with farmland carved out of the forest. Indiana claims to be the “Christmas Tree capital of America.” (Yes, they do have a lot of pine tree farms.)
Where is Indiana, Pa? OK, say you were heading south on I-79 towards Pittsburgh. BUT, you accidentally turned left onto RT-422 and drove for 60 miles in the wrong direction. (All the while, your GPS is telling you to “turn around, you are going the wrong way.”) If you did that, you would end up in Indiana, Pa.
Indiana is a BIG college town, however; bigger still is the two huge coal burning powerplants located outside the city.
It is not unusual to see huge billboards along the highway telling drivers to: “Stop Nancy Pelosi and President Obama’s plans to raise utility costs through taxes.”
Or, you might see a flashing electronic sign that counts down the days left until the 2010 election, so we can: “Throw these bums out who support Cap and Trade.”
You see, these huge coal burning power plants employ hundreds of people from the area. Maybe thousands of people if you count all the industries connected with these plants. People are afraid when democrats talk about attacking the coal industry. Coal is their life support system, and how they make a living.
So, you might be tempted to think that Indiana is a conservative (republican) community. You might be wrong with that thinking, remember; Pennsylvania is notoriously a “blue state.”
I talked to one old fellow, who is a life-long democrat. He said: “Usually, democrats have been pretty fair to us here, and have understood that we survive from the coal industry. But in the last 4 years, democrats have begun to attack the coal industry, which is causing me to vote republican this year. You cannot take away something, (the coal industry) without first providing another form of income.) Democrats have the cart before the horse with this cap and trade bill. I cannot support them anymore.”
In Indiana, at least; it doesn’t seem like the republicans are taking the votes away from democrats. More so, the democrats are forcing people away from their party, because of their stance on coal.
Take a second look at that picture above. Surrounding the coal power plant you will see farmland.
Isn’t that ironic? Living things growing next to a (sic) “dirty-toxic coal power plant.”
No one who lives in Indiana is complaining about these coal burning power plants.
That is the way that I see it.
Written by AR Babonie for The Angry Republic
