Bush's main attention to coal industry; appoint more cronies to MSHA

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NYT
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/06/opinion/06fri2.html?th&emc=th

Coal's Power Over Politicians

Published: January 6, 2006

As inspectors delve into the deadly mine disaster in Sago, W.Va., their starting premise must be that the explosion that choked off 12 workers' lives would never have happened if all the safety rules now on the books had been properly enforced. Mining regulations born of decades of death and disaster dictate in detail the most basic protections for survival, like adequate ventilation and roof supports.

Yet full enforcement was clearly lacking at the Sago mine, with its long record of chronic violations and an injury rate almost triple the average for similar mines. Federal officials claim that the mine was adequately monitored.

But in accounting for the deaths, inspectors should look as well into the budget cutbacks and staff attrition that have marked the Bush administration's management of its own ranks in the Mine Safety and Health Administration. The latest budget imposes a $4.9 million cut for the safety agency, according to Congressional critics who estimate that the agency has suffered a reduction of 170 positions in the past five years.

The ensuing government laxity - and the increasing risks that miners take to get their hard-earned wages - were underlined three years ago by the Government Accountability Office in a study of 10 years of work by the mine safety administration, a period covering the management records of both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. It warned of the looming retirements of qualified inspectors, and the failure to follow up adequately on nearly half of the violations found. Rather than turning this around, the Bush administration's main attention to the coal industry has been to appoint a raft of political appointees directly from energy corporations to critical regulatory posts.

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