Most peculiar, Mama

We are in an unusually mild winter to say the least.  It’s been my experience that January is either the coldest month of the year or the second coldest, depending on how you feel about February, but that is definitely not the case this year. 

We should be shoveling lots of snow, wearing long underwear, and dreading any trip out of doors, but not this January.  Not only has the cold been held at bay, we have seen fairly long stretches with temps in the 50’s and 60’s, for crying out loud, and in January.  I know I’ve pointed that out already, but it’s so unusual it bears repeating.

Januaries are, by their nature, composed of long periods of cold days, followed by a few days not quite so cold, then cold again.  This year the exact opposite is taking place.  We are seeing prolonged warm spells that are broken up by a few days that are not quite as warm.

In winters past whenever there was more snow or colder weather than usual, those who believe the theory about climate change to be wholly concocted by Al Gore were never hesitant to say, “Well, where’s your global warming now?”

Now this year, you don’t hear so much about why Al is only out to profit from his unproven theory.  In fact, you haven’t heard anything much at all about global warming, not explicitly anyway.  But there have been some implicit statements made by those to whom global warming is a myth, and this is as unusual as the warm days that are more like early spring than early winter weather.

Yes, the coal industry has now admitted this warmer than usual weather is costing the industry.  One columnist in the Appalachian News-Express (published in Pikeville, Ky., my paper) has noted this and half-heartedly wished for some colder weather to help out both the Power Company and the coal mines. 

WYMT-TV ( channel 57, Hazard, Ky) has also reported that the warm weather is affecting coal’s bottom line at least once, and one coal company has reported it will begin to lay off miners due to a decreased demand for coal.  Again, the mild January weather was cited as the primary reason.

I’m no fan of the Power Company; that ten day period over the Christmas holiday a couple of years back, when the power was off and Christmas dinner was cooked on a Sears’s kerosene heater may have played a role in that.  Pretty much everybody knew why the power was lost and why it stayed out so long:  AEP just stopped trimming the brush around their lines.

The truth is all fossil fuel producers and users are on record as disputing any evidence presented that supports global warming and climate change.  Don Blankenship, the former CEO of the company formerly known as Massey was very outspoken and even debated Robert Kennedy, Jr. over this issue.  Of course, the Don of Massey would have been better served if he had just paid closer attention to what was going on in his own mines. If he had, 29 miners might still be alive today.

How ironic would it be if the industry that has denied the use of coal has had anything at all to do with global warming suddenly found itself losing money because of it?  There is an old saying traced to Greek philosopher Sextus Empiricus that addresses situations such as this:  The wheels of the gods grind slowly, but they grind exceeding fine