Good Tuesday Morning!
As the 2018 political season spins up, it's going to be 6 months of folks spouting bonafides about their views for the region. For this, against that - we all know it's coming.
I would challenge folks to think less about those red-meat hot-button tactics, and ask the question "but what are you going to do for people that live here?".
If you are pro-coal, pro-gas, or pro-industry, how is that candidate going to address the impacts of that development in your community? Do they talk about clean water? Do they talk about eminent domain? Do they talk about taxing the activity in a way that brings some much needed funds back to the region? Do they talk about creating higher value industries from that activity? Are they talking about education?
If you are pro-environment, pro-renewable, or pro-sustainability, how is your candidate addressing the impacts of those stances in your community? Are they talking in a realistic way about economic development? Are they talking in a realistic way about how many people a given approach either employs or displaces? Are they talking about being inclusive in who gets invited to the "new economy"?
Folks are going to try to get your vote by making you mad, or making you scared. I would rather hear about believable solutions, or at least an intelligent framing of the problem - because you can't fix something if you don't understand how it is broken.
Today's image made me think of all this - standing underneath this crackling transmission line, as I watch electrons stream from West Virginia to the cities out east, I see lost opportunity for the folks that live here - but is it better than nothing?
Crackling - Pennsylvania