“Over labor day weekend in West Virginia, Massey Energy is hosting a massive rally in support of coal and against global warming,” Jay Yarow reports for The Business Insider.
MacDailyNews Take: “Against global warming?” What does that mean exactly, Jay? Is Massey against the concept that the average global temperature is warming? Or do they question if or how much blame can be placed on humans for causing global warming? Or is it something else they’re against? We ask simply for the sake of clarity.
Yarow continues, “Verizon is one of more than 120 sponsors of the event, and this is getting the left wing blogsters, and environmentalists into a frenzy.”
MacDailyNews Take: Well, at least it’s good for somebody’s business. 
Yarow continues, “Outraged bloggers want to know why Verizon is choosing to be associated with an event that Don Blankenship, CEO of Massey Energy says will show ‘how environmental extremists and corporate America are both trying to destroy your jobs,’ with the cap and trade bill.”
“Verizon Wireless spokesperson, Jim Gerace, …said his company simply paid $1,000 for the right to be able to sell its products at the rally, ‘It’s nothing more than that … and the groups who are trying to make it more than that are misguided. I’m definitely bothered that people are trying to put us in the middle of an argument,’” Yarow reports. “That’s not going to quell the protestors on the left. Of course, if Verizon pulls out it’s just going to irk the folks on the other side of the debate.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Intrigued, we found this article from August 20 by Ry Rivard for The Charleston (W.Va.) Daily Mail which reported, “About 25,000 people have gone online to request the free tickets for a Labor Day rally organized by Massey Energy Co., a spokesman said.”
“The rally, which was announced on Aug. 10 and is designed to show support for the American worker, is being put on by a Massey-fronted coalition of West Virginia businesses, trade groups and elected officials,” Rivard reports. “The rally guests include country music legend Hank Williams Jr., hard rocker Ted Nugent, singer-songwriter John Rich, and conservative pundit Sean Hannity.”
“‘It could be as many as 100,000 people; that’s why we’re trying to track it on the Web site, just so we can stay in front of it, so we have everything for that size of a crowd,” said Jeff Gillenwater, spokesman for Massey and Friends of America,” Rivard reports. “Tickets are free, but people must register online to attend… The Web site for the event is friendsofamericarally.com.
MacDailyNews Note: At the “Friends of America Rally” Website, we don’t see anything that states the rally is “against global warming,” whatever that means. We do see a list of guests and a link to sign a National Mining Association petition against the Waxman-Markey Climate Bill. Perhaps there’s something in that specific bill that they’re against?
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers too numerous to mention individually for the heads up.]
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