Dem Sen. Rockefeller on Obama: 'He's Beginning to Not Be Believable to Me'

We don't know whether Gov. Joe Manchin, in discussing a meeting with President Barack Obama, used the word "frank" as it so often is employed in diplomacy. After he and several other governors met to discuss energy policy with Obama, Manchin said the conversation was "direct, frank, right from everyone's heart. I think (Obama) knows very well where (coal state governors) are coming from."

When diplomats use the word "frank," it often is code for a discussion in which the parties are nowhere near agreement. That is the case with Obama and coal. Despite what he says, the president continues to act in ways that, if continued, will devastate the coal industry and states like ours that depend on it.

More worrisome for tens of millions of Americans who do not live in coal-producing states is the effect Obama's policies will have on them. If measures such as "cap and trade" are implemented, many families will see their utility bills go up by thousands of dollars a year.

Obama insists that he does not want to write off coal as a fuel used widely in the United States. But as so often is the case in Washington, his policies do not agree with his public pronouncements. The "cap and trade" bill, an announcement by the Environmental Protection Agency that it may take dramatic action on its own, and EPA behavior involving mining permits are examples of anti-coal policy.

For too long, some coal-state members of Congress accepted Obama's promises without noticing the 800-pound gorilla in the room - administration policies. There is evidence that may change.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., seems to have become a convert. Last week he signaled strongly that promises from the White House are not enough. During a Senate hearing on Obama's proposal for the 2001 budget, Rockefeller lashed out.

According to one published report, Rockefeller made it clear "he isn't sure he trusts the president's commitments to coal. ..." Referring to Obama's pledges to support coal, the senator complained that, "He says it in his speeches, but he doesn't say it in (his budget proposal). He doesn't say it in the actions of (EPA Administrator) Lisa Jackson. And he doesn't say it in the minds of my own people. And he's beginning to not be believable to me."