What gets lost in the debate back in Washington about energy development in general, and coal in particular, is what it means to real people in real places like Crow Agency, Montana, where this is not some abstract policy, not some abstract debate in the halls of Congress, but this is a debate about the lives of real people. This is a debate about the future of sovereign nations looking to be self-sufficient and providing for their own livelihood. The key issue is jobs and the numbers are absolutely staggering. According to the Montana Chamber of Commerce and Chairman Darrin Old Coyote, the unemployment rate on the Crow Reservation is 47 percent. But without the jobs provided by coal production, that number will climb to something greater than 80 percent. Young people shouldn't have to move far away just to make ends meet and raise a family, especially when the resources we need to power our schools, our homes, our factories across America are right here in our backyard. We must be responsible stewards of the land when we develop our resources, but we must also be responsible stewards of our children's futures.