One of the challenges President Franklin Roosevelt faced in fashioning the New Deal was determining which sections of the nation were most in need of aid and economic development.\u00a0 Clearly none were exempt from poverty, but there were certain areas where living conditions and economic deprivation were more extreme than others.<\/p>\n

Today, we are in the midst of a heated debate about whether \u201cclean coal\u201d is actually clean, and if so, is it economically feasible and safe to mine coal and utilize it as an energy source.<\/a> The outcome of this debate could go to either extreme.\u00a0 On one hand, since the U.S. has such an abundant supply of coal, \u201cKing Coal\u201d could dominate energy production as it has for much of American history.\u00a0 On the other hand, if America and the world\u2019s alternative energy programs are regarded with greater importance and provided with more funding, coal could become somewhat of a relic of the past because of the prohibitive problems of carbon dioxide and sulfuric emissions, as well as destruction to our land by strip mining (cutting off mountain tops, etc.).<\/p>\n

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We have been reminded recently of the dangers of shaft mining.\u00a0 The recent disaster in West Virginia\u00a0 resulted in more deaths than any other mining incident in the past forty years.\u00a0 Mining is still a very dangerous occupation. What is different from the days of the New Deal and before is that through strong union leadership, miners are now well paid for their efforts.<\/p>\n

Franklin Roosevelt often used his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, as \u201ceyes and ears\u201d on conditions in the hinterland.\u00a0 Ms. Roosevelt often collaborated with her best friend, Lorena Hickok, to explore these locales far off the beaten path.<\/p>\n

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