The following is an article written by CCAN supporter and Boucher constituent Theresa Burriss. The piece first appeared in the New River Voice.

I headed out to Rep. Rick Boucher’s town hall meeting on health care Tuesday morning with a particular purpose. I left the event with a revised one. Although I’m writing this editorial now, as I intended to do all along, the message has changed somewhat as a result of what I witnessed in the forum at New River Community College in Dublin.

I had hoped to query Boucher that morning about comments he made recently in Bristol, Va., to the Eastern Coal Council, and how they seem inconsistent with his stance on health care. So let me provide the context for these inconsistencies before I comment on the evolution of my writing.

Reporting for the Bristol Herald Courier, Debra McCown cites Boucher in her Aug. 13 article, “Boucher: Coal Profits Supersede Environmental Concerns.” After Boucher dismissed the surface mining fight as being “new [and] led by the more extreme environmental organizations [who] clearly have targeted the Appalachian states [

If Boucher considers me an extreme environmentalist targeting Appalachian states, then so be it; I consider myself a proud native Appalachian fighting to protect the mountains and culture of my home.

As I wrote earlier this year for the New River Voice, Boucher’s words about surface mining being “beneficial for our regional economy” fall flat based on shear numbers. In 2008 only 2,012 miners were employed at surface mines in Southwest Virginia and none were members of the United Mine Workers Association (UMWA). And as a recent report from the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED) proves, coal cost Kentucky in 2006 instead of benefiting it.

The report serves as a warning to all states where coal is extracted, but Boucher apparently hasn’t bothered to read it or has chosen to disregard it so he can continue to pander to the coal and utility companies that pad his political pocket. So, at least Boucher was honest when he assured the coal companies that he’d do what was necessary to keep them profitable.

Now, how does all this coal talk relate to health care? Boucher admits in an official statement posted on his Web site, “The status quo is unsustainable. We need to assure affordable access to health care for all Americans. The cost of taking that step will be less than the cost of doing nothing.” And during the town hall meeting, he repeatedly stressed the importance of increasing preventative care. Yet what good is preventative care, or even proper health insurance and access for that matter, when our air and water are full of toxins due to coal-fired power plants?

In May I spoke before a panel of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) representatives in Northern Virginia during the agency’s public comment period on the Endangerment Finding. I pleaded with the panel and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to rule in favor of the Endangerment Finding, which states in part, “The Administrator is proposing to find that the current and projected concentrations of the mix of six key greenhouse gases