Recent editorials from West Virginia newspapers:
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June 20
The Intelligencer on corruption in West Virginia, as the state observes its 155th birthday:
As we West Virginians observe our state’s 155th birthday today, some of us will look back on our history. It has been a colorful, sometimes inspiring and sometimes depressing one.
Unfortunately, we seem doomed to repeat the most unsavory aspect of our heritage - corruption by public officials. Unless we find a way to escape what seems to be a vicious cycle of dishonesty among local and state officials and employees, West Virginia will never be the state it could and should become.
Our history is full of rotten-to-the-core government employees and officials. They steal our money and our elections. They make life more difficult for the rest of us in order to make it more enjoyable and less stressful on themselves.
You will notice our use of the present tense in mentioning public corruption. That is because, as full of it as our history is, it is a persistent evil.
Just a few years ago, a book on crooked politicians was written by a West Virginian, Allen Loughry. No doubt some who read it believed Loughry’s clear dislike of those about whom he wrote was an indication of his trustworthiness. So we elected him to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.
Now Loughry is under investigation. He has been suspended from his position pending resolution of no fewer than 32 allegations of misconduct.
Here in Ohio County, the problem hits home. A magistrate, Harry Radcliffe, is accused of taking bribes to steer defendants in his court to a specific bail bonding company.
There are similar stories throughout the state. They range from officials padding their expense accounts to state employees accepting bribes.
Once, nefarious behavior by those in public positions was pervasive in West Virginia.
Some things never seem to change.
Stories of really good people abound in our state. There are men, women and even children who risk their lives to save others. There are people who go far out of their way to return lost items, to help people they never met out of scrapes, to ensure no one goes hungry and no child is without a winter coat.
That is who the vast majority of our fellow West Virginians are. Good folks, we call them.
Yet we continue to be plagued by crooked public employees and officials. We simply must do something decisive about that. Otherwise, we will continue to be viewed by some among us as patsies to be exploited.
So on this, our 155th birthday as a state, let us resolve to stamp out corruption, once and for all. Would it not be nice at this time in 2019 to look back on the previous year without recalling someone we thought we could trust, but could not?
Online: http://www.theintelligencer.net/
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June 17
The Bluefield Daily Telegraph on the governor’s announcement that West Virginia is on track to finish the 2018 fiscal year with a budget surplus:
Governor Jim Justice announced last week that West Virginia is on track to finish the 2018 fiscal year with a budget surplus. The news is the culmination of an impressive economic turnaround for the Mountain State.
Just a year ago the state was dealing with painful budget cuts and a deficit that was estimated at one point as high as $500 million. But things are now looking much brighter for West Virginia under the careful stewardship of the Republican-controlled Legislature and Justice, a Democrat turned Republican.
“Our prudent management of the state’s finances continues to bear fruit and this is more great news for West Virginia,” Justice said. “We’re headed for a budget surplus at the end of the month and the movement forward looks promising as we prepare to start fiscal year 2019. When I took office in January 2017 the state was flat out bankrupt. This has now been turned completely around and we are in the black. It really is nothing short of a miracle. This is a great story that I continue to say needs to be told.”
According to the governor’s office, May collections of $328.9 million were $20.2 million above estimate, with year-to-date collections of nearly $3.83 billion being equal to 100.4 percent of the year-to-date estimate and more than $124 million higher than last year. The cumulative surplus was $15.5 million.
A number of factors during the month of May pointed toward a continued economic recovery. The revenue highlights included:
. Personal income tax collections exceeded estimate in May by nearly $8.5 million, partly due to a 69 percent gain in nonresident withholding tax collections. Cumulative collections of nearly $1.74 billion were $60.8 million above estimate and 6.4 percent ahead of last year.
. Corporation net income tax collections exceeded the May estimate by $3.8 million. Year-to-date collections were $5.6 million above estimate and 0.8 percent ahead of last year.
. Severance tax collections exceeded estimate by more than $1.8 million in May. Year-to-date collections of $310.5 million were 13.3 percent ahead of last year.
. Business and occupation collections were $1.4 million ahead of estimate in May. Cumulative receipts were $0.2 million ahead of estimate.
. Consumer sales tax collections exceeded estimate in May by $0.4 million.
. Cumulative State Road Fund collections of nearly $738.5 million were $12.5 million above estimate and 16.5 percent ($104.7 million) ahead of last year.
This positive economic report for May is another sign that lawmakers are achieving success in their ongoing efforts to right the state’s financial ship.
Online: http://www.bdtonline.com/
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June 18
The Charleston Daily Mail on doing something about climate change:
It seems few topics bring up more divisive arguments than climate change.
For whatever reason, what should be a rational and scientific discussion about changes to temperatures around the globe, ice melt or growth, at what rate global climate changes might be occurring, and whether changes are happening because of human activity or nature bring about extreme views and heated discussion.
The ubiquitous use of fossil fuels around the globe to power vehicles, heat and cool buildings, prepare meals, power our iCloud storage and charge our cellphones is cited as the primary cause of a warming atmosphere. Carbon-based exhaust gases emitted from burning the fuels are believed to trap heat into the atmosphere like a blanket over the earth.
Some of the most vocal cast blame on the fossil fuel industry and those who earn their living from it. “We must rapidly reduce and eliminate our use of fossil fuels to stop the growth of carbon into the atmosphere,” they say.
But it was an industrious Western society that learned to capture the power of fossil fuels that led to modernization of societies that raised billions of people out of poverty and improved people’s standard of living in the past 200 years faster than 2,000 years prior to that. “Won’t that same kind of innovation and technology come up with solutions to climate change, if it really is occurring?” others ask.
If there were easy solutions, there would be no arguments. Fossil fuels aren’t going away anytime soon, as renewable fuels can’t come close to powering our population’s ravenous energy desires. Even with efforts by governments, consumer groups and energy companies across the globe, renewables still lag in the amount of energy they supply on a percentage basis.
In 2017, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy (June 2018), the world consumed 13,511.2 million tonnes of oil equivalent. Of that energy, 85 percent was produced by fossil fuels (oil, 34 percent, coal, 28 percent, gas, 23 percent) while hydro (7 percent), nuclear (4 percent) and renewables (4 percent) made up the rest.
And even if the world were to somehow stop the use of fossil fuels today, climate change already underway will continue, two of the scientists who spoke at a climate change discussion at University of Charleston last week said during a meeting with Gazette-Mail staff.
But there are things companies, governments and individuals can do to reduce the damage of any inevitable change, said David Titley, director of Penn State’s Center for Solutions to Weather and Climate Risk, and Michael Mann, Penn State director of the Earth System Science Center.
“We waste one-third of our energy, one-third of our water and one-third of our food,” Titley said. Each of those takes energy to produce, transport and consume, so better management practices at all levels will reduce energy use and emissions.
Likewise, with the possibility of flooding, forest fires and storms more likely, they said, better planning and better management practices by developers, government agencies and citizens are needed to reduce the impact and inevitable risk of such natural disasters.
The climate is changing, and the argument over its cause is not going to go away. Let the extremists argue their points, while the rest of us work to adapt to and manage the inevitable changes.
Online: https://www.wvgazettemail.com/
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