Today 13 miners are trapped in the Sago mine south of Buchanan, West Virginia. The mine had over 200 violations of safety regulations in the last year. Why was the mine open? Would it have been open in a Gore presidency? Does Bush Policy Kill Coal Miners?
In 2000 George Bush won West Virginia and its five electoral votes. All it would have taken to avoid the Bush Presidency was for Gore to win West Virginia. Before you say "but West Virginia is filled with gun totin' rednecks who would obviously vote Bush" keep in mind that West Virginia is not typically a "red state". It voted for Nixon, Reagan and Ike, but other than that it has gone Democratic in presidential elections since WWII. That means Carter, yes, not such a surprise, but that means Dukakis too! WV did not vote for Daddy Bush.
More below ...
The state is filled with Union democrats (read coal miners) and has a radical political history (ever heard of Mother Jones?). So radical it required the imposition of
martial law in the 1920s.
West Virginia could have saved us from Bush. So why did we vote for Bush in the 2000 elections?
Not to oversimplify, but (simply put) because Bush said he would revitalize mining and create jobs doing it. He got industry support and money by promising to oppose Clinton-era legislation that would tighten environmental regulations. He also said Democrats would take away our hunting rifles, but that is another diary.
The New York Times in August, 2004:
On a rainy day in August 2000, with polls showing that he had a chance to carry West Virginia, Mr. Bush stopped in Charleston to rally support. Just before he left, he paused on the airport tarmac for a brief meeting that helped lay the seeds for the changes in environmental rules that favor the Appalachian coal industry.
In a roped-off area behind the rental cars, Bill Raney, the president of the West Virginia Coal Association, an industry group, and Dick Kimbler, who headed a local chapter of the mine workers union, told Mr. Bush about layoffs at mountaintop mines. They said they also complained that a growing emphasis on environmental protection was delaying the approval of mining permits and eliminating jobs.
Mr. Bush replied that the problems underscored the need to develop a national energy policy, the other men said. Less than two hours later, Donald L. Evans, then Mr. Bush's campaign chairman and now the commerce secretary, called Mr. Raney, who said they talked about making the permitting process less cumbersome.
Mr. Raney and Mr. Kimbler then created the Balanced Energy Coalition, an industry group that persuaded many coal miners to back Mr. Bush. They also worked with the state's most prolific Republican fund-raiser, James H. Harless, a coal operator who collected $275,000 for Mr. Bush, five times what Mr. Gore raised in the entire state.
After getting elected, though, the administration did more than just repeal environmental restrictions. They appointed a Mining executive to the head of the Mining Safety and Health Administration and they eased safety and health regulations and oversight.
more from the Times article
WASHINGTON - In 1997, as a top executive of a Utah mining company, David Lauriski proposed a measure that could allow some operators to let coal-dust levels rise substantially in mines. The plan went nowhere in the government.
Last year, it found enthusiastic backing from one government official - Mr. Lauriski himself. Now head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration, he revived the proposal despite objections by union officials and health experts that it could put miners at greater risk of black-lung disease.
The reintroduction of the coal dust measure came after the federal agency had abandoned a series of Clinton-era safety proposals favored by coal miners while embracing others favored by mine owners.
The agency's effort to rewrite coal regulations is part of a broader push by the Bush administration to help an industry that had been out of favor in Washington. As a candidate four years ago, Mr. Bush promised to expand energy supplies, in part by reviving coal's fortunes, particularly in Appalachia, where coal regions will also help decide how swing states like West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio vote this year.
The president has also made good on a 2000 campaign pledge to ease environmental restrictions that industry officials said were threatening jobs in coal country. That promise led many West Virginia miners, who traditionally voted Democratic, to join coal operators in supporting Mr. Bush. It helped him win the state's five electoral votes, ultimately the margin of victory....
Again. Today 13 miners are trapped in the Sago mine south of Buchanan, West Virginia. The mine had over 200 violations of safety regulations in the last year. Why was the mine open? Would it have been open in a Gore presidency? Does Bush Kill Coal Miners?
I leave it to two Democratic officials to answer that question:
"They generally want to do whatever the industry wants," said Representative Frank Pallone Jr., a New Jersey Democrat and member of the House Resources Committee who has been a critic of the administration's regulation of the industry. "You don't even have to change the law. You can change the regulations and don't do enforcement." ....
Indeed.
But worse.
... J. Davitt McAteer, who proposed the rules as head of mine safety during the Clinton administration, said that if the idea had survived, "I believe with strong conviction that a significant number of fatalities could have been avoided."
Peace out.