Officials urge help for auto industry

By KENNETH HART - The Independent

GREENUP December 03, 2008 11:12 pm

— Chain e-mails containing jokes or stories that may or not be factual have become a part of everyday life in the Internet age.
In fact, such messages have become so prevalent that many folks automatically scramble to hit the “delete” button when an e-mail containing the words “Please forward this to everyone on your contact list” makes its way to their inbox.
However, a chain e-mail started this week by two of Greenup County’s top officials is anything but laughing matter, and the two are hoping recipients will take the time to read and act on it.
The e-mail, launched by Greenup Judge-Executive Bobby Carpenter and County Attorney Mike Wilson, aims to build support for the federal government coming to the aid of the floundering U.S. auto industry, with the idea being that such assistance will lead to a resumption of operations at a local steel mill.
In their e-mail, Carpenter and Wilson cite the idling of AK Steel’s Ashland Works as a symptom of the downturn in the auto industry.
The Ohio-based steelmaker announced last month that the plant would be placed on “hot-idle” status for an indefinite period because of a slowdown in business and approximately 650 workers would be placed on furlough.
The subject line of the e-mail reads: “Please Read ... We Need You to Help Save AK Steel Jobs.” In the body of the message, Carpenter and Wilson call on recipients to contact members of Kentucky’s congressional delegation and let them know they support the idea of the government assisting the Big 3 automakers — Chrysler, Ford and General Motors.
“It seems clear that if the AK Steel Ashland Works is to survive and prosper, its most important customer, the automotive industry, must survive and prosper,” the message states. “And, for the automotive industry in America to survive and prosper, most agree it will need help from the federal government.
“Congress is considering aid to the automotive industry and we are asking you let our elected officials know we support such an idea. If our government can bail out bankers in suits, why not steelworkers in hard hats and steel-toed boots? Put simply, a vote for the automotive industry is a vote for the survival of the AK Steel Ashland Works.”
The e-mail also contains the names of all Kentucky’s U.S. senators and representatives, along with contact information for each of them.
And, of course, there’s the obligatory plea for recipients to forward the message to “every appropriate contact” in their electronic address books.
Although he said he’s normally “not much of an e-mail person,” Carpenter said he believed he and Wilson needed to use the medium to at least make a symbolic gesture, given AK Steel’s importance to the local economy.
“We just thought we ought to do something,” Carpenter said Wednesday. “We wanted to let people know how the situation with the auto industry directly affects our local steel plant.”
Carpenter said the responses he had received so far to the e-mail, which he and Wilson sat down and composed together, had all been positive.
KENNETH HART can be reached at khart@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2654.