By Tony McVeigh
Frankfort, KY – Yielding to demands for an audience, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear met for about 30 minutes with 20 citizens protesting mountaintop removal coal mining. The group, called Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, included poet and author Wendell Berry. Berry thanked the governor for showing up, but said the meeting did not allay his concerns.
"I don't think that we're anywhere near the conversation that we're going to have to have before we're satisfied. We represent a side, and it's an authentic side, with substantive issues that need to be dealt with."
Gov. Beshear patiently listened to the protesters concerns, but told them he could not support their stand for an end to all surface mining in Kentucky. After the governor went back to work, the protest in the lobby of the governor's office, continued.