Overheard

In case you missed it on NPR's Marketplace, we were having an amicable discussion about coal and cleaner wind energy in West Virginia when all of a sudden it turns to this...

DON BLANKENSHIP, CEO of the coal company, Massey Energy: There is no global warming. We went through the population fear. We went through the killer bee fear. It’s just the next phase — it will go away.

SAM EATON, reporter for Marketplace: And if it doesn’t, and if legislation passes and coal emissions are taxed and regulated, what then?

BLANKENSHIP: Teach your children to speak Chinese, because if we’re going to play around with windmills and solar panels, we’ll fall behind.

Thankfully Scott Jagow scribbled down the exact quote so I could confirm I heard that right. I may well have driven off the road if I'd been driving when he said that. Wow, dude.

Apparently this guy is a real prize when it comes to spouting quotable quotes on environmental issues.