Advocating For Change
Posted on April 12, 2010 | By Denny Tyler | 3 Comments
My heart hurts for the 29 miners and their families. In this day and age with the technology available to us there is no excuse for such a horrendous loss of life in the coal mines. There is no excuse for any loss of life in the mine.
Since the mine explosion last week I have had to re-evaluate my position on underground coal mining versus mountaintop removal coal mining. It is hard to say stop MTR and go back to underground mining after those 29 men lost their lives underground.
In my opinion underground mining is as safe as we allow it to be. When shortcuts are taken in a quest for higher production, lives are put at risk.
In the past week folks have been asking themselves and others how we can prevent a tragedy such as this one from ever happening again. I’ve heard “new regulations” mentioned in response. Personally I think strictly enforcing current regulations would go a long way towards preventing another disaster. It doesn’t matter how many regulations are put in place or how many laws are passed if they are not being enforced.
I’ve also heard this week about how coal companies use the legal system to avoid a pattern of violations – a condition that could shut a mine down. The indicator for this pattern needs to change in a way that would not allow the coal companies to hide it with litigation. It’s not about money, it’s about saving lives.
The Miner Act of 2006… a complete failure in this case. These 29 miners had no use for reactive actions only proactive actions could have saved their lives.
There should be a new Miner Act and in it there should be a pledge to enforce the very laws and regulations designed to keep the coal miners safe by holding those accountable that break the laws and ignore the regulations.
The laws and regulations need better oversight. I think it defeats the purpose when you put a company employee/official in charge of making sure regulations are followed to the letter when doing so may interfere with production. In my opinion the miners need something similar to the Federal Air Marshalls. They need someone in the mine not connected to or influenced by the company with the authority to immediately shut that operation down if any condition exists that puts lives at risk… a federal safety official.
I wonder how much more devastation we have to endure before we come to the realization we need to find a better way to generate electricity? We see our friends, neighbors, and family members die in the mines. We watch as communities slowly die and we watch our mountains being leveled all with no end in sight.
Coal accounts for approx. 50 percent of the electricity generated in this country. Mining coal is obviously something that is not going away overnight. However, at some point we are going to have to start a transition away from coal to renewable/alternative energy sources. We have to do this because coal is a finite resource. With every new coal-fired power plant we build or with every new coal-to-liquids plant we approve we commit ourselves to not starting a transition away from coal and the bottom line is coal, a non-renewable resource, kills from its cradle to its grave.
Do I still think we should stop mountaintop removal coal mining? Damn right I do. There is no justification for that much wanton destruction.
We have to want to put safety over production underground. We can’t get by with conditions good enough to run coal we also have to have conditions good enough to prevent a tragedy.
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Update -
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Other Massey mines cited for ventilation problems
Our remnants of wilderness will yield bigger values to the nation’s character and health than they will to its pocketbook, and to destroy them will be to admit that the latter are the only values that interest us. – Aldo Leopold
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April 12th, 2010 @ 7:11 pm
Great post Denny. Expect to get many hits to this post.
April 14th, 2010 @ 8:47 am
those miners died because of massey’s indifference and greed
April 22nd, 2010 @ 2:36 pm
Millions of citizens speaking softly results in one very loud voice, and if that one voice is directed at the U.S. Congress it can stop mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia. Please contact your Representative and Senators, urge them to cosponsor & support the Clean Water Protection Act (HR 1310), and the Appalachia Restoration Act (S 696). They are blowing up our mountains, and there oughta be a law!
Call your Congressperson and Senators @ 202 224 3121