McKinley's decision to stay out of the race to determine the next governor of West Virginia - a contest he might well have won - is extremely important in that context.

A campaign for governor would have consumed an enormous amount of McKinley's time. It also would have been a distraction from the work he has been pursuing since he entered Congress - fighting back against Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency.

In that, the congressman representing our region of the state has been effective. As we have reported, his efforts to force the EPA to back away from a proposal to regulate coal ash as toxic waste bore fruit.

But enacting a reasonable program of regulation for coal ash, in place of the EPA's extreme plan, will require more work.

Battling the White House over its initiative to shut down coal-fired power plants and replace them with much more costly sources of electricity is not a task for a single lawmaker. West Virginia's delegation in Congress - U.S. Sens. Shelley Capito, R-W.Va. and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.; along with McKinley and fellow Representatives Evan Jenkins, R-W.Va.; and Alex Mooney, R-W.Va. - have worked hard as a team to defend our state.

But McKinley has been a very important leader on that team. Taking himself at least partly out of the contest in order to campaign for governor would have handed some advantage to Obama and the EPA. Again, that would have occurred at a time when all on the front lines of both sides in the battle understand time is of the essence.

West Virginians and, again, many other Americans who may not even be aware of the effect the war on coal is having on them, owe a debt of gratitude to McKinley, then. His decision to forgo a campaign for governor, to remain in Congress in the fight for coal and reasonably priced electricity, will make a difference in the outcome.