A Stanton voter, Constance W. Birch, wrote a truly compelling letter to the editor of the Stanton (Va.) News Leader in which she says “It was a tough choice between ‘local’ Creigh Deeds and Brian Moran, but I have decided to endorse Brian Moran because of his environmental stands and to encourage him in his positions against the coal industry.”

The letter continues:

Runoff from the Surry Coal Power Plant would enter and further threaten the environmentally-fragile Chesapeake Bay Watershed

There is now huge earth moving equipment which slices tops off mountains like taking the top slice of bread off a sandwich to get to the jelly. It is incredibly dusty, dirty, and noisy. There is more waste now than coal and the coal industry has convinced government that it is too costly to move the slag and “reclamation” means spraying hard packed earth and rock green. Slag and other pollutants run into the hollows of the land which are — guess what? — streams, which run into rivers and ponds. I oppose coal mining and the Surrey coal plant.

Wow.

A former Kentucky coal country resident, Birch continued:

The answer is to not approve further coal plants, but to start immediately building wind and solar and other green energy jobs to replace jobs in the coal industry. Brian Moran is the only candidate to firmly oppose coal plants. We need to elect Brian Moran and other candidates who will really support clean energy.

The News Leader serves Virginia’s Central Shenandoah Valley.