A few misnomers aside I think you will see that the division here sharply follows geography. I grew up in your part of the country and burned nothing but pine. Nothing wrong with it. It'll keep the pipes from freezing, to be sure. Living in Ohio the options couldn't be more different. Few pine, nearly countless types of hardwoods, most of which have anywhere from 20-40% higher btu than pine. Then there is the burn times, pine goes fast compared to hardwoods. It's not that I won't burn pine, it's just that it's not worth it when there are better options so readily available. And that's likely where much of the "ignorance" comes in to play. For people that have been surrounded by nothing but hardwoods their whole life, about all they know is that pine isn't worth the effort compared to what they have around them.