Unemployment reports for August were released last week. Once again, our corporate home state of West Virginia has the highest rate of joblessness in the country – and that rate went up, from 7.5 percent in July to 7.6 percent in August. The Associated Press can so clearly see the connection between the actions of federal agencies and unemployment that its story on the numbers included the line, “falling demand for coal has devastated West Virginia.”

Many in Washington, D.C., claim the assault on carbon-based fuels and the people who depend on them for financial well-being is necessary. We have to end our reliance on fossil fuels eventually, they say. This is for the environment, for our future. We might as well get this over with.

It is a strategy akin to mutineers killing the captain of a ship before they realize none of them knows how to navigate.

There is a better way – one that would, if done right, create more jobs and a healthier economy. We can look to the Middle East and North Africa, of all places, to get some idea how it might work.

According to the Middle East Solar Industry Association, the countries in that region are expected to have a total 1,500 megawatts worth of solar projects online by the end of this year; and that figure is expected to grow by nearly 2 percent year-on-year. This has been a market-driven effort, in a region where electricity prices are on the rise, and sunshine is plentiful. Dubai has put in place solar “palm trees” and a rooftop solar program.

Meanwhile, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, three-fourths of which are in the MENA region, pushed oil production up to a three-year high over the summer. They have not sacrificed their most important industry as they iron out problems including the cost and stability of renewable fuel sources, market demand and technology that will handle the extreme environments in the region.

Contrast that with the U.S. strategy of killing coal and handicapping oil and gas right now – before the bugs with alternatives are worked out and regardless of the effect on our economy.

By the way, the unemployment rate in the United Arab Emirates is 4.2 percent.