To the Editor:Re “Appalachia Is Not What You Think” (Op-Ed, March 16):Robert Gipe is right: Appalachian coal miners need less political posturing and more good jobs. Those jobs are right under the miners’ feet: restoring the natural environment of a region devastated by a century and a half of coal mining that has left streams polluted, mountains leveled and industrial waste choking once-scenic hillsides and hollows. Miners already have the skills necessary to do the job of returning the most scenic areas of America to its former beauty. They know how to operate and maintain heavy equipment, pour concrete, manage water and do multiple kinds of construction. Badly needed government initiatives to invest in rebuilding America should not forget coal country and its miners.

Source: New York Times March 24, 2019 16:52 UTC