More than 60,000 West Virginians have jobs because of coal, good jobs that pay an average of $68,500 a year. As a lifelong West Virginian, I see the positive impact of coal every day on my neighbors, my family and my friends. There's no question about how much coal is indelibly linked to our past and our future.

As I drive around our state, there are constant reminders of the enormous political and financial muscle that the coal industry flexes in West Virginia.

"Friends of Coal" license plates and stickers adorn countless vehicles of our residents. "Friends of Coal" also sponsors one of the most anticipated sporting events in our state: the annual Friends of Coal Bowl between the West Virginia Mountaineers and the Marshall University Thundering Herd. And let's not forget the innumerable "Friends of Coal" underwriting of symposiums, auto fairs, athletic tournaments and educational activities -- events that thrive through coal's generosity.

During election season, politicians battle for the "Friends of Coal" seal of approval, fighting to show who is the better friend to coal. Ads for coal-endorsed candidates and issues blanket our airwaves, while coal miners are trotted out to press conferences to provide a backdrop of credibility to West Virginia voters.

But it appears that "Friends of Coal" are really just fair-weather friends -- at least to the men and women who toil in the dark so we can live in the light.

Where are these so-called friends when it comes to the 22,500 active miners, retirees and their families who depend on Patriot Coal for their health care and pension benefits?

Patriot Coal is gaming the system to shed its obligations to these workers, retirees and their families. It's a brazen scam that working Americans know all too well these days.

And the friends of coal have remained eerily quiet. They should be ashamed.

Patriot Coal was set up to fail. In 2007, it was established as a dumping ground for the health care liabilities of Peabody Energy. A year later, Patriot Coal got loaded down with even more liabilities when it acquired Arch Coal's creation, Magnum Coal. Not surprisingly, Patriot Coal declared bankruptcy when coal prices dropped from historic highs. And now the heist has culminated with Patriot Coal trying to use the bankruptcy process to strip miners, retirees and their families -- most of whom never worked for Patriot Coal -- of their earned benefits.

The most sinister Wall Street double-dealers would be proud. Ultimately, it will be the taxpayers who foot the bill for Patriot Coal's greed that occurred under the guise of a free market system. So much for calling yourself a "patriot."

Yet those who call themselves friends of coal are silent to the tragedy facing the 22,500 Americans who were made promises.

It's time for our political leaders to choose a side. If they are truly friends of coal miners and not just coal operators, they must speak out now and condemn the appalling actions of Patriot Coal. The real friends of coal miners will loudly proclaim their support for the hard-working men and women who are the victims of a system heavily stacked in favor of corporate America.

But so far, the only statewide elected officials who have taken a public stand with the miners are Sen. Jay Rockefeller and Rep. Nick Rahall.

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, who is seeking Rockefeller's seat, claims to be a great supporter of coal miners. I call on her to show us what kind of friend she is. It is time for her to stand with miners on this issue now. I urge Rep. David McKinley to join her.

My challenge isn't limited to Republicans. It is time for Sen. Joe Manchin and Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin to pick a side as well.

True friends are worth more than gold, the saying goes. But what about coal?

Hall is general secretary-treasurer of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and president of Teamsters Local 175 in South Charleston.