Editor:

It was indeed an honor to be asked to give a presentation at the annual meeting of the Lexington Group here in Sheridan. My talk was "Trains and Coal Mines, and How They Shaped the West."

The Lexington Group is a nonprofit educational organization that concentrates on all aspects of transportation history, particularly railroads.

There were three days of lectures and meals including a three-bus caravan to the North Antelope Rochelle coal mine near Gillette.

Eavesdropping just a little, I heard some talk about container shipments slowing down because of the economy, but the railroad's "ace-in-the-hole" was coal because the demand and shipment were a constant figure. ... So far.

By now most folks have heard of President Barack Obama's promise to make coal-fired electric production so expensive that it will drive the coal mining industry out of business. (Obama quote: "Energy costs will skyrocket." Remember?) That promise, whether sincere or not, was clearly made to garner votes from outfits like the Sierra Club, and the Powder River Basin Resource Council, etc.

I don't imagine the lights will be going out soon but I do imagine the price of keeping them lit will continue to rise. The people who voted for this "change" will most likely be much older by the time the mines are closed down and only the very wealthy will be able to leave a security light burn all night.

Here's what really doesn't compute and I hope someone from the UTU (United Transportation Union) will explain to us: Why would the UTU, almost to the man, vote for someone who promised to shut down a major contributor to their very livelihood?

It would be a gigantic stretch to imagine that so many of these union members are so immersed in liberal ideology that they would sacrifice their jobs and future to the god of climate change and alleged CO2 emissions.

I'll be waiting, as I suspect others will, for some logical explanation of that paradox.

MIKE KUZARA, Wyarno