During a House GOP press conference today, Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) used the power of logic to push for increased coal mining as well as increased oil drilling. To help make his case, Shimkus held up a lump of Illinois coal and even displayed the jersey of the Southern Illinois Miners:
You know, if drilling is good, drilling and mining is better. … It’s drilling and mining and using great resources like Illinois coal. You all follow the congressional baseball game. I wore this uniform proudly. It says, ‘The Miners.’ The mining industry and coal is part of the solution.
Watch it:
Yglesias writes, “It’s true that if we think we should give zero consequences to the environmental, economic, and public health harms caused by the resource-extraction activities of the fossil fuel industry then we really should go beyond mining in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge and all along America’s coastline — why not tear up as much of the country as possible looking for coal?”
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