Wind Power Is Taking Over A West Virginia Coal Town. Will The Residents Embrace It?

Consider This from NPR

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🗓️ 21 February 2024

⏱️ 14 minutes

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Summary

Keyser, West Virginia, was once known for coal. But the jobs have been disappearing. First because of automation, then cheap natural gas. And now, the urgency to address climate change is one more pressure on this energy source that contributes to global warming.

Now the town, like so much of the country is attempting to transition to renewable energy. The country's first major climate policy, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, gave that transition a boost. It passed with the key vote of West Virginia's own Senator Democrat Joe Manchin.

Keyser represents a national shift in American energy production. And in a town that was defined by coal for generations, change can be difficult.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The Royal Restaurant has been serving breakfast in Kaiser West Virginia for 120 years
0:06.1	And for as long as anyone can remember the round table near the front window has been the place
0:11.0	old men gather in the morning to talk about whatever's
0:13.7	on their mind. We discuss anything from local to national news and politics and
0:20.3	sports you name it. A sign hangs on the wall over Chris Patel's head. It says,
0:26.0	Knights of the Royals round table, where lies are told and repeated. But not just anyone can be a night. As Patesl explains you have to earn
0:35.8	the title by completing a very specific mission. You have to tell a lie that is believed
0:41.5	it goes out on the street comes back as a truth.
0:44.0	Tell a lie that goes out on the street and comes back with people believing it's true.
0:50.0	He's been sitting at this table every morning for about 40 years,
0:53.3	and it took him decades to come up with the lie that would earn him a knighthood.
0:58.0	It happened after a row of wind turbines went up on the ridge overlooking the town in 2012.
1:02.8	What was the lie about them?
1:04.9	The windmills was a government weather experiment.
1:09.8	They were put up there to keep track of the moisture in the ground. When it was too wet, they pushed the clouds
1:16.5	away, they were too dry, they turned them and had the moisture come in. Now ever since you put the windows in it's been pleasant valor.
1:25.9	So you started that lie at this table and it came back to you is the truth?
1:29.5	Oh, it's all over town. It's everywhere.
1:32.1	Congratulations! For everywhere. Congratulations.
1:33.2	For years.
1:34.2	Congratulations.
1:35.2	In fact, those wind turbines are producing electricity.
	...

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