On Friday, five West Virginia coal miners helped a tourist whose electric car died on the road by bringing the automobile up to their facility so it could be recharged.
Working at the mine, Tucker County’s Republican state senator Randy Smith posted a photo of the occasion on Facebook.
“Some days are just better than others. Today at our mine off Corridor H an electric car from DC ran out of battery at the road entrance to the mine. Someone called one of our foreman and told him a car was broke down in the middle of our haul road. He went to investigate and found out they had indeed ran out of juice coming from DC to Davis for a get away weekend.”
“He then went back to the mine and got guys to push the car to the guard shack so they could plug in to charge. They couldn’t pull it because it was all plastic underneath and nothing to hook up to. So here are 5 coal miners pushing a battery car to the coal mine to charge up. If you look closely you can see our coal stockpile and load out in the background.”
In spite of the obvious irony of coal workers physically laboring to assist a person from Washington with their electric automobile, Smith used the opportunity to make a point about how humanity transcends politics. He also mentioned how, as a gesture of goodwill, one of the miners gave the motorist a “Friend of Coal” license plate. Obviously, no one is aware of the driver’s politics, nor is it significant. What counts is that helpful individuals offered to assist them when they might have simply ignored them.
Democrats have been advocating for a swift switch to electric vehicles in recent years, and this includes the state of California’s recent decision to outlaw the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by the year 2035. 17 more states are reportedly mulling similar limits, according to the Associated Press.
