BLUEFIELD — Last week’s debate in Charleston between environmental lawyer Robert Kennedy Jr. and Don Blankenship, chief executive officer of Massey Coal over mountaintop surface mining drew a lot of attention, “but probably didn’t change any minds,” according to Bryan Brown, West Virginia coordinator for FACES of Coal.

FACES — the Federation for American Coal, Energy and Security — is an alliance of coal industry supporters who, according to Brown, are committed to getting a true and accurate story about the coal industry out to state and federal legislators as well as to the general public. According to Brown, coal industry opponents paint an unrealistic image of coal, that makes FACES for Coal’s work challenging.

“There are so many angles that the coal industry is now facing,” Brown said in a telephone interview on Friday. “It’s very difficult to discern the truth from debates like the one between Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Blankenship. Mr. Kennedy misspoke when he pointed out there that there are more jobs in the wind industry than in the coal industry. The information he cited is based on data that includes everyone from operators to people manufacturing windmills.

“Those figures have already been refuted,” Brown said. “If the environmental community wants to make that comparison, they should include all of the jobs in the coal mining support industries. Statements like that just fuel the fires for coal industry opponents.”

FACES for Coal was founded last summer, and has grown to 50,000 members, according to Brown. “We launched in Charleston last August, and now we have members in Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee.”

The Greater Bluefield Chamber of Commerce included a membership application in its most recent mailing to members. The Bluefield Chamber endorsed FACES efforts and urged its members to consider joining.

“We were one of their first members,” Marc Meachum, president and chief executive officer of the Bluefield chamber said. “They contacted us in August about getting a booth at the (2009) Bluefield Coal Show,” Meachum said. “Of course, by that time, every inch of the National Guard Armory was full and had been for several months. We offered them a table, and they sent two guys down here to talk with people.

“It’s basically a public relations effort,” Meachum said. “They’re not opposed to developing alternative energy sources including wind, water and even nuclear. We sent the mailing out to all of our members to let them know about FACES for Coal.”

“The response to FACES for Coal has been tremendous,” Brown said. “The purpose is to educate folks on the benefits that coal mining provides. Most people in West Virginia and through most of the Appalachian region don’t need education. Our foremost goal is to convert that knowledge into action and encourage people to help correct the myths, untruths and mis-characterization that the environmental community likes to promote.

“Without a strong, post mining use for the land, it would be difficult to build a diverse economy in West Virginia,” Brown said. “One of the biggest challenges to diversifying the economy is because we don’t have level land. If you remove the coal industry from West Virginia, the state would have a hard time maintaining the level of services it presently provides.”

Still, Brown said that a discussion of the issues like the one last week at the University of Charleston campus between Kennedy and Blankenship are healthy. “It showed the complex nature of the industry today,” Brown said. “Mr. Kennedy spoke about the future and Mr. Blankenship spoke about the present.

“We need renewable forms of energy,” Brown said. “West Virginia is the fastest growing wind energy state in the East. Wind energy brings in 270 people during the construction phase, but only 15 permanent jobs.”

Brown said that the coal industry provides 88,000 direct and indirect jobs in West Virginia alone and 500,000 jobs nationwide. He said coal jobs are high-paying jobs and each job in the coal industry generates 3.5 jobs in the support industries. He said that FACES hopes to educate people about the complex challenges in the energy industry, and on how coal fits into the overall picture.

– Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com