When Dan Mosley became head of Kentucky’s Harlan County government this year, he promised – like those elected before him – to defend the state’s beleaguered coal industry. But Mosley also vowed to do something else for his county: help build a new economy based on something other than coal. “The best business I’ve seen in town lately has been the U-Haul business because people are moving out,” said Mosley, a boyish-looking father of two, speaking after a community meeting in the century-old coal town of Benham. “The time has come to wipe away our tears,” he says. “We have no choice but to diversify.” Talk of an economic transition remains difficult in eastern Kentucky, where you can still spot bumper stickers that read “Mine Every Lump” and statues honor coal miners. These are the people Kentucky Republican Senator Mitch McConnell says are victims of an […]