The Sunday Gazette-Mail on June 21 announced with much fanfare a "groundbreaking" study, authored by a West Virginia University psychologist, Michael Hendryx, and a Washington State University College of Pharmacy associate professor, Melissa Ahern, that purported to show that coal's cost outweighs its benefits. Not surprisingly, the Gazette ignores some key facts and holds Hendryx and Ahern to a much lower standard of factual rigor than it would a pro-coal industry study.

The Hendryx-Ahern report is deeply flawed and does not withstand the scrutiny that its authors would apply to their own students. A well-researched academic study it is not. First, the study's authors approach their subject matter from a biased viewpoint.

Ahern is the director and co-founder of the Northwest Climate Change Center in Spokane, Wash., which seeks to develop "networks among experts, elected officials, businesses, universities, and community activists to create a rich social capital network to optimize realization of synergies in addressing climate change in a timely, responsive manner," whatever that means. One can be certain that the center is not particularly supportive of West Virginia's coal mining industry.

Hendryx co-authored a fatally flawed study last year that attempted to show that a wind-power project on the Coal River Mountain would be more economically beneficial for Raleigh County (without even considering West Virginia as a whole) than a significant new long-term planned mining development.

The report cites for its support articles by anti-mining activists such as Vivian Stockman, whose anti-mining organization attacks coal mining permit applications, and Jeff Goodell, among others. Just as the media will report my views as those of an "industry spokesman," it should likewise note the bias of those releasing a study that is used to attack coal mining.

Setting aside its authors' bias, the study reflects their attempt to develop support for a prejudged result -- namely, that coal mining is bad.

We all would agree that a more diverse economy in central Appalachia would lead to lower poverty and improved public health.

"Low Income, Not Race or Lifestyle, Is the Greatest Threat to Health," a 2001 national study on poverty, found that "persistent poverty was the strongest predictor of mortality among low-income persons." Notwithstanding behavioral risks such as smoking, alcohol drinking, sedentary lifestyle and obesity, researchers concluded that "It's deadly to be poor."

In light of this landmark research, it is patently absurd for Hendryx and Ahern to conclude that low-income communities would be healthier without coal mining jobs.

To blame the coal industry for the region's lack of economic diversity is to ignore central Appalachia's challenging topography with its dearth of interstate highways, major airports and commercial-quality flat land above the flood plain. Those features make it difficult to attract manufacturers and other large employers.

Indeed, without the coal industry, the plight of central Appalachia would be much worse. For example, surface mining projects have assisted in the development of roads and airports that make mining communities more accessible and attractive to business development and tourism.

Examples of beneficial postmining projects include the wildly successful Hatfield-McCoy Trail, which was developed by coal companies and local economic development authorities; the Pikeville, Ky., airport, which was developed from a surface mining site; and the King Coal highway project that will open a significant swath of the coalfields for further economic diversification. These projects are just the tip of the iceberg of beneficial postmining uses of restored surface mines.

The study also implies that coal industry wages don't stack up to nonmining wages. Coal mining wages provide earnings dramatically above the study's median household income. The average annual wage of a coal miner exceeds $60,000, far higher than the national median household income of $36,622, as reported in the Hendryx-Ahern report. Likewise, coal companies offer health insurance benefits that are unrivaled in private industry. If these jobs are eliminated, what then?

Finally, the report ignores taxes other than severance taxes. Unmined mineral taxes and other real and personal property taxes generate multimillions of dollars in public funds annually. These taxes, as well as severance taxes that benefit both coal-producing and noncoal-producing counties, are essential to the provision of governmental services and the development of infrastructure required to diversify the economy.

While I agree with the authors' statement that central Appalachia would benefit, in public health and otherwise, from a more diverse economy, the fact is that a vibrant coal industry is the bridge to that diversification, not an impediment to it.

Nicholson is senior vice president, secretary and general counsel of International Coal Group Inc.