<html><div style='background-color:'><DIV> <P><BR><BR></P></DIV> <DIV></DIV>>Bush nailed Gore in WVA in guns and coal, far as I can see. <DIV></DIV>>It's hard to imagine any progress on global warming or conservation <DIV></DIV>>that doesn't hurt coal miners, even when properly analyzed. <DIV></DIV>> <DIV></DIV>>mbs <DIV></DIV>> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Illinois has been one exception to general UMWA opposition</DIV> <DIV>to environmental regulations.  The union and state environmentalists</DIV> <DIV>have worked together for years to try to force utilities to install pollution</DIV> <DIV>control devices in Illinois power plants.  (Illinois has the</DIV> <DIV>largest number of "grandfathered" coal buring plants in the</DIV> <DIV>country.)  The reason for the unusual UMWA position is that</DIV> <DIV>if scrubbers and other technolgies were implemented, then</DIV> <DIV>Illinois coal could be burned again.  Today, most Illinois plants</DIV> <DIV>burn coal from non-union mines in Wyoming.  I'm not</DIV> <DIV>sure there is a technological fix for the environmental</DIV> <DIV>problems created by coal burning power plants, but coal </DIV> <DIV>gassification looks promising.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Another thing to remember about the UMWA is that</DIV> <DIV>about 3/4's of their 120,000 members are retirees.  Further, </DIV> <DIV>only about a third of U.S. coal miners belong to a union.</DIV> <DIV>Being a coal miner isn't synonymous with being a UMWA member .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Greg Boozell</DIV> <DIV><A href="mailto:gboozell@hotmail.com">gboozell@hotmail.com</A></DIV> <DIV><BR> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV></div><br clear=all><hr>Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at <a href='http://go.msn.com/bql/hmtag_itl_EN.asp'>http://explorer.msn.com</a><br></html>