The Governor spoke at a Thursday Press Conference after his tour. In it, he urged West Virginian's to vote for his fellow Democrats who are fighting to implement Obama's vision of a coal-free, alternative energy future. "Once Obama is able to deliver on his promise to 'bankrupt' the coal industry [LINK], we will need to get used to consuming less energy. Alternative energy like solar power, wind, and ...whatever-the-heck-else he has in mind -- won't be ready for decades. And at the rate the green businesses he funded with tax-payer money are going out-of-business [LINK] -- it maybe even longer."
"Coal provides about 40% of America's power [LINK], and even more in West Virginia [LINK] -- but it's time we face the facts. Our dependency on dirty coal is choking the life out of our children's future. Hurricane Sandy and this Snow-covered "Frankenstorm" is a blessing in disguise. If we get used to doing with less power, West Virginia can be the new standard in Obama's America. We need to go back to our roots -- living off the land in tar-paper shacks. We need to get rid of our power consuming televisions and rediscover the joys of the transistor radio, we can be proud Mountaineers, once again!
"Oh, and once we get rid of coal, oil and gas are next. I plan on opening a sledding business using all the greyhounds my family owns."
The governor's remarks weren't heard by many who are still in the dark -- like the Gibbs family of St. Albans.
It's unclear how his message would resonate with Mr. Tim Gibbs. He told TheDiggerer, "I can't understand it! They tell me there's a single tree branch keeping my subdivision in the dark - even the sewage pump is down. We've got trailer parks fully powered near us, but our brand-new subdivision with arguably the most expensive, modern houses in St. Albans can't get power? We're paying the most in property taxes but getting less service. Get this... the power company demanded a raise hike saying they needed it to trim back the trees from the lines. Guess what!? That didn't happen! Do I get my money back? Cause I'll go buy a chainsaw and take care of the trees myself.
"Because of their mismanagement, my five children are forced to live in the dark, eat cold dinners, and go to bed freezing. Meanwhile, the trailer park folks are enjoying their plasma TVs and microwave popcorn!"
Despite the frustration of many, power outages across the Mountain State are still high. First Energy has 81,000 outages this morning and Appalachian Power reports 73,000 outages. While they hope to make more progress on restoration today, some are still expected to be without power until Sunday.
If power is still not fully restored by Election Day, Madam Secretary of State, Natalie Tennant, says her office has contingency plans in place. in case of any disruption of the polls, all statewide and local offices either stay or revert to the Democrat Party control until the next election cycle.
