25 Killed in Mine Blast - 4 Still Missing

[sporty_carr]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36183425/ns/us_news-life/?GT1=43001


MONTCOAL, W.Va. - Rescue teams planned to search again for four workers missing in a coal mine where a massive explosion killed 25 in the worst U.S. mining disaster in more than two decades, though officials said Tuesday that the chances were slim that the miners survived.

 

[STDiva]

Unfortunate.

 

[Jagger69]

Deep-shaft coal-mining is one of the most hazardous occupations on earth. May our thoughts be with the miners and their loved ones at this tragic time.

 

[LukeEl]

Here is a question, since these guys risk their lives pretty much on a daily basis, do they get paid well or their families get decent compansasion if a tragedy like this happens?

 

[on]

Here is a question, since these guys risk their lives pretty much on a daily basis, do they get paid well or their families get decent compansasion if a tragedy like this happens?

don't be silly, they want to make money! not run a leftist hippie communist organisation.

 

[gunslingingbird]

Didn't the same thing happen a couple years ago in the Sago mine? They said on the news that this one also had a history of safety codes violations. As is typical of the government, it takes a tragedy before they decide to do their job.

 

[~~whimsy~~]

It seems every two years it is on the news about miners trapped and dead in mine collapses.

 

[LaLiLuLeLohan]

Here is a question, since these guys risk their lives pretty much on a daily basis, do they get paid well or their families get decent compansasion if a tragedy like this happens?

Yeah, they make a pretty decent living. If I remember correctly, the average salary for a coal minor was 55-60k/year which ain't a bad living..especially in WV or areas like rural Pennsylvania.

I don't know about compensation. I assume there is due to the fact that these jobs are unionized. There's also room for civil suits since these disasters always trail multiple violations.

 

[LaLiLuLeLohan]

Didn't the same thing happen a couple years ago in the Sago mine? They said on the news that this one also had a history of safety codes violations. As is typical of the government, it takes a tragedy before they decide to do their job.

The governments do impose fines. Thing is, it's cheaper to pay the fines than fix the violations. It's all rather intentional because the poorly kept secret is that America depends on cheap coal and a few dozen dead miners a year is more politically acceptable than shutting down a mine or causing a spike in energy costs.

 

[calpoon]

Another reason why fossil fuels are so fucked up.

 

[LaLiLuLeLohan]

Another reason why fossil fuels are so fucked up.

Yeah, I suppose you're against hydroelectricity too. All those poor workers killed making those awful damns.

Lets see how many people die when we shut down fossil fuels and use only wind, solar and thermal energy.

 

[calpoon]

Yeah, I suppose you're against hydroelectricity too. All those poor workers killed making those awful damns.

Lets see how many people die when we shut down fossil fuels and use only wind, solar and thermal energy.

Wait, so you are saying that you are in favor of people dying in unsafe work conditions?

 

[LaLiLuLeLohan]

Wait, so you are saying that you are in favor of people dying in unsafe work conditions?

No, I said absolutely nothing about safety conditions or being in favor of people dying and you know it. I even addressed the problem earlier in the thread. I'm saying that people die at their workplace all the time and to try to demonize fossil fuel and the fossil fuel industry further because of a tragic accident is cheap, dishonest and exploitative. If you were commenting on safety regulations or government oversight and regulations, I wouldn't have said a word.

Anymore cheap shot attempts?

 

[calpoon]

You didn't say it per se`, but you did imply that I shouldn't criticize hydroelectricty on account of all the people that died in dam construction... which would imply that you don't think that their is a problem with people dying in unsafe work conditions or that they are otherwise justified by their output which is considered a good thing.

So I can criticize regulation policy, but it's cheap, dishonest and exploitative to point out the fact that mining for coal is dangerous and that danger is directly a result of energy policy? I disagree completely and I'd say that those negatives should be labeled against attacking an effect (unsafe work conditions) while glossing over the situation that causes them.

Your argument against alternative energy dangers is absurd, since it's a hypothetical situation that there is no data to compare. In more realistic terms, those technologies are also dependent on mining, which does carry risk. The fact is that there is no industrial process that carries no danger to workers. However, it seems to me that coal mining is especially dangerous and those deaths could potentially be minimized through alternative fuels.

Also for the record, I didn't advocate an immediate stop to using fossil fuels. In the thread on Obama's new offshore drilling I highlighted some of the problems that make a transition to alternative energy difficult.