Article on Kelly Goes, Secretary of the Department of Commerce

A healthy economy requires a balance between wealth creation and protection of the environment. As Justice Neely said, environmental statutes require us to "strike a balance between a vibrant economy in which we all live in a sewer and a land of sparkling waters where everyone lives on the dole." Four-H Road Comm. v. Chief Div. of Water Resources; 177 W.Va. 643;355 S.E.2d 624 (W. Va. 1987).

Balancing economy and ecology requires an ability to understand real dangers, which in turn requires some understanding of complex technical matters. In my limited experience with Kelly Goes, Secretary of the Department of Commerce, I have observed that she is unusually good at understanding technical arguments and winnowing the wheat from the chaff. You can learn more about her in an article by George Hohmann in the Charleston Daily Mail at http://dailymail.com/Business/200804240208