OTHER OPINIONS : Support reforestation proposal
Posted: September 28, 2009 at 6:38 a.m.
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Only God can make a tree.
But 2,000 workers, earning $18.75 an hour, could make a forest from the barren wastelands left by the coal industry in Central Appalachia.
This vision of reforesting a region and replenishing watersheds, while reviving local economies and creating sources of renewable energy, is not pie in the sky.
It's a near "shovel ready" plan developed by scientists at the University of Kentucky and Virginia Tech and by government reclamation experts who have mud on their boots from 30 years of inspecting strip mines.
All that stands between theirvision and reality: $422 million.
This is a worthy mission that deserves support from Congress, the Obama administration, state governments and the coal industry.
The Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative is also a perfect fit for President Barack Obama's vision of retooling the economy by developing renewable energy to achieve energy independence and reverse global warming.
In the process, green jobs would be created in a region that desperately needs any kind of jobs. : - Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader
Opinion, Pages 5 on 09/28/2009
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