Recap: Blankenship-Kennedy Debate

Thousands packed the auditorium and tuned in on television and radio for the debate between Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship and environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. at the University of Charleston. The answer to the first question from mediator, and President of the University of Charleston, Dr. Edwin H. Welch, was a quick indicator of how the rest of the debate would be handled by each debater. Mr. Blankenship gave a clear and concise answer addressing the question, while Mr. Kennedy gave what essentially amounted to a speech highlighting a myriad of his issues and concerns with the coal industry.

Asked about his primary concerns for the future of energy, Mr. Blankenship stated that they were the security of this country and improving the quality of life in this country and throughout the world. This answer became somewhat of a theme for Mr. Blankenship, as he stated his concern for the health and well-being of people, which is dependent on their quality of life, which is heavily dependant on affordable electricity, which is heavily dependent on coal.

When asked the same question, Mr. Kennedy gave a 5 minutes speech sounding identical to parts of his speech (as well as many other speeches he has given across the nation concerning Appalachia and coal) from a rally at DEP last month, which highlighted his families’ ties to West Virginia along with his views against surface mining.

The audience, having a near equal number of supporters from both sides, was relatively subdued thanks to early pleas from Dr. Welch to hold-off applause until the end. At times, however, both debaters received loud applause for their answers to questions, or in Mr. Kennedy’s case, his 5 minute speeches concerning the perils of coal.

Although Dr. Welch did his best to keep the debate moving back-and-forth between the debaters, Mr. Kennedy’s long speeches made it difficult for the two debaters to have meaningful dialogue at times. However, Mr. Blankenship did attempt to address the specific issues raised by Dr. Welch as well as the numerous issues raised by Mr. Kennedy. After one of Mr. Kennedy’s tirades, Mr. Blankenship jokingly stated that he would attempt to address the 11 points raised by Mr. Kennedy.  Over the course of the debate, Mr. Blankenship stayed cool and calm, while Mr. Kennedy got very emotional at times, often resorting to personal attacks against Mr. Blankenship and Massey Energy.

Throughout the debate, Mr. Kennedy stated the many health and environmental issues he believed to be caused by coal, while Mr. Blankenship reminded Mr. Kennedy that many of his biggest issues with coal, such as the burning of coal and its contribution to Mercury in water, are primarily caused by other countries with much a higher usage of coal, such as China and India.

Mr. Kennedy also focused a great deal on alternative energy, such as wind and solar energy, as well as West Virginia’s need to switch its focus on these alternative energy sources. Mr. Blankenship responded to Mr. Kennedy’s pleas for alternative energy by making a simple, but powerful, argument that if it was profitable to build solar panel fields or wind farms, without government subsidies, then that is what would be happening. Stating that his company, and many others, is pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into the coal industry because that is where the investment will pay off in a free enterprise market.

While the security at the event mirrored that of international flight travel, the debate itself was a success, going off without much disturbance other than the occasional burst of applause.

This article was authored by Matthew S. Tyree, Jackson Kelly PLLC. For more information on the author see here.