Recently, President Obama said he urged Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to deliver on promised political, social and economic reforms, further stating that Mubarak has a “responsibility to give meaning to those words.”

Earlier, in his State of the Union address, the President proclaimed “To reduce barriers to growth and investment, I’ve ordered a review of government regulations. When we find rules that put an unnecessary burden on businesses, we will fix them.”

I believe the President, likewise, has a responsibility to give meaning to his words.

There are problems out there that need to be fixed. I work for a coal company, and in the past few days, I’ve seen the EPA revoke a valid surface coal mining permit in West Virginia that has effectively sent people home.

Right now, the Office of Surface Mining is proposing new regulations that will cost (by their own estimate) 7,000 coal mining jobs, as reported by the Associated Press on 1-26-11.

Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Sen. Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky are leading the way in calling for an end to asinine rules that defy Congressional approval and put peoples’ lives in jeopardy.

There are others out there as well, all across Appalachia, who shares these ideals!!

By this letter, I am asking all Tribune readers to help the coal industry by standing up with us. Contact your government officials; let them know that America needs coal, and an opportunity to mine it.

Our jobs depend on it.

John F. Enyart

Ashland, Ky.