Most important, burning and extracting coal for the plant destroys the best asset the area has - its natural beauty. Once draglines gouge out the coal, that asset is gone. The coal is gone, it will be millions of years before there is more, there is no topsoil, nothing grows, there is no future. It seems like these moonscapes might at least be good for wind turbines, however, the substrate of this moonscape is so loose that it can't even support a turbine. The area can no longer be productive.
There is a better way. Wise County, with state investment, could develop tourism and education jobs that would leverage their best asset, the natural beauty of the area, and would provide a base that could be developed for generations. There is a future in investing in dude ranches featuring fly fishing, horse back riding, canoeing, and maybe blue grass festivals. My family has travelled from Northern VA beyond Wise County to reach such a dude ranch in North Carolina, but we would much rather have stayed in Wise County. There is a future in funding an Environmental Studies program at UVA- Wise to study the mussel populations that are unique to the Clinch River, or to study ways to secure the toxic sludge mounds from flooding the area. Let Wise County build a future with their mountains, not destroy them and kill their future.
(Written by and posted on behalf of Linda B., who had trouble posting to RK--but i agree with her!)
It can and should be a part of the solution, but I just can't see it being the centerpiece of a new direction. It will play a supporting role at best unless something changes (i.e. they find gold, Disney builds a resort there).
Education could be another piece of the puzzle, as well as technology (which allows more remote places to connect into the business centers around the world) and perhaps clean energy solutions like wind or more radical biofuel based R&D and production.
Maybe I'm wrong on this, but right now I just don't see tourism as the savior one hopes it would be.