It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a coal shill!

Rep. Rahall to leap out of a plane on behalf of coal 5

West Virginia Rep. Nick Rahall (D) plans to leap out of an airplane to show his support for coal.

Yes, really.

This comes via Ken Ward Jr., who posted Rahall’s press release on the big event. It is sponsored by Friends of Coal, and will honor the military and law enforcement too (that’s a lot of honor for one single leap):

U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) today announced he will join the U.S. Army Parachute Team, the “Golden Knights” in their demonstration jump into Beckley, W.Va., on Saturday, July 18, 2009.  Rep. Rahall accepted the Golden Knights invitation to participate in the team’s afternoon jump, and will land at the Paul Cline Memorial Sports Complex, in conjunction with the festivities of the 2009 Friends of Coal Auto Fair.

The press release includes this quote from Rahall (who apparently refers to himself in the third person):

I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to be invited by the Golden Knights to join them for the Friends of Coal event.  It is a very special honor for me to be able to show—in a bold way, my continued support for not only coal, but for everyone who serves the people of West Virginia and our Nation through their service in our armed forces and law enforcement agencies.  It is a Nick Rahall affirmation of the importance of coal and an opportunity to pay tribute to those who extraordinarily serve and make personal sacrifices each day for the citizens of West Virginia and our Nation as a whole.

If you happen to be in West Virginia this weekend, don’t miss coal’s favorite House member throwing himself out of a plane in honor of dirty energy!

Kate Sheppard covers energy and environmental politics for Mother Jones. She was previously the political reporter for Grist and a writing fellow at The American Prospect. You can find her work here and follow her on Twitter.

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  1. greenpeacetempe Posted 6:08 pm
    17 Jul 2009

    I nearly barfed in my mouth reading this. "Friends of Coal Auto Fair"...sounds like a winner.
  2. lasmog Posted 6:35 pm
    17 Jul 2009

    Rahall should make it a true die-athalon:  He could parachute from a plane spraying pesticide, then drive a speed boat down a polluted river and finally drive a 4x4 over the denuded landscape of an area that has been subjected to mountain top mining by king coal. 
  3. craig78 Posted 8:57 pm
    17 Jul 2009

    He should show his support for gravity by not wearing a parachute.
  4. Delay And Deny's avatar

    Delay And Deny Posted 9:59 pm
    18 Jul 2009

    Craig78.   I have to agree...if only to have the opportunity to build up the Republican vote in the House! 

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