Mining regulations - prediction

[radfringe]

The news broke yesterday of the deaths of two miners in the recent "accident". This on the heels of the previous deaths.

This will be an issue when Congress goes back into session. I expect to see alot of proposals/legislation being offered. However, not much of any substance will result.

Calls for more regulation will result in counter arguments of:

-- Too many regulations, too confusing for mining industry to follow.

-- It will raise the cost of production and that will lead to higher prices for consumers at a time when energy prices are already too high.

-- Industry must "monitor" itself.

-- Enforce the regulations we already have.

meanwhile - follow the money:
Coal Mining:
Long-Term Contribution Trends
http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.asp?Ind=E1210

Mining:
Long-Term Contribution Trends
http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.asp?Ind=E04

[blonndee]

1. I sincerely hope you are wrong. Today I watched the corp. media

coverage of the most recent tragedy and hoped that some good would come of it.

My hope is that is is only a matter of time before the "self-regulating" myth becomes apparent as the MYTH IT IS to mainstream America.

My hope is that the DINO governor (from what I've read here on DU) is outraged enough that he will fight hard for the safety regulations he promised today.

My long-term hope is that this will awaken SOMETHING in American consciousness that WORKERS HAVE RIGHTS!

As shocking as it may seem to some DUers, there are an INCREDIBLE number of Americans who honestly, sincerely, do NOT think that workers have ANY RIGHTS WHATSOEVER!!! That the exchange between workers and employers is straightforward, plain, and that neither one owes the other anything other than labor and wages...workers assume the labor risks and employers assume the cost risks. This, I think, is a SERIOUS problem politically and for the future of our country. I think it's a major reason that Wal Mart has been able to get away with so much. When its employees file suit, MANY, MANY Americans dismiss it automaticaly as frivolous...not because it's Wal Mart or that it has ANYTHING to do with the merits of the case at all. But because it's WORKERS filing suit. They have been conditioned to believe that people who file suit, especially workers, are whining, lazy people who wish they could be on welfare and are looking for a handout.

If you don't believe me, read up a little on right to work and anything on demographics in states like Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas...and certainly other states, but these are the states I have lived in.

[atreides1]

2. There is always Hope

Except where the Republicans are concerned. They will play this fiddle until the mid-terms, and if it looks that they will keep control of Congress all of this "new regulation" craze will go down the rabbit hole.

I hope that this problem can be solved, but let's face facts, the Republicans don't care!!!!

[malaise]

5. While watching coverage of this tragedy

it dawned on me that as standards of security deteriorate and unions are kicked out of industries, the only advice being promoted by the corporate media, the government and the mining industry is 'to seek miracles'.
This is even more tragic than the deaths of miners.

It was particularly funny listening to one doctor dismiss Miss Anchor lady's musings on miracles and state clearly that recovery is more about medical care and treatment than miracles.

Dems need to jump down the throats of special interests on this "miracles versus workers'rights" rubbish in all spheres.

[radfringe]

3. your post poses another possibility

that the states themselves will institute stricter regulations and inspections

if so, then look for fights in the courts over who has jurisdiction - the bushies/repugs or the states?

[Hubert Flottz]

7. Re: "They have been conditioned to believe"

They have indeed been conditioned by the robber baron's never ending PR Blitz. It started along about 1900...

PR: CORPORATE SPIN & PROPAGANDA

snip>

In 1914 the Ludlow Massacre in southern Colorado occurs in which 14 miners, their wives, children were killed by the Colorado National Guard at the behest of John D. Rockefeller, the owner of that particular mine. How does Ivy Lee work into the story?

First of all, John D. Rockefeller by this time owns most of the energy resources of the U.S. This was a family that not only bought up petroleum but basically any potential source of energy, including by the way solar and nuclear, either to promote them or to keep them from being promoted. So what happened in Ludlow could have happened at other places. After the Ludlow massacre, there is a groundswell of outrage against the massacre, against the way in which the National Guard had worked essentially as private Pinkertons for the Rockefeller family, and at the brutality of the killing of unarmed miners and their families. John D. Rockefeller and Ivy Lee entered into a partnership that would last for the rest of their lives. Lee basically started publishing information sheets about the Ludlow massacre, indicating that the fires had been set by the miners themselves, that Mother Jones, who was active in it, was the keeper of a house of ill repute. There was one fabrication after another.

> Such as “The troops were provoked by the miners.”

The spin was that the unfortunate troops had been suckered into killing the miners by the miners themselves. I should say that Ivy Lee’s campaign was not a particularly effective one. Ivy Lee’s reputation throughout much of his life was that of a paid liar. more...........

http://subsol.c3.hu/subsol_2/contributors3/ewentext.html

********

Was Ivy Lee a hero or a villain?

Lee's publicity work for the American Red Cross during World War I was universally acclaimed. He helped raised $400 million in contributions, recruited millions of volunteers, and established the Red Cross in Americans' minds as the place to turn for disaster relief.

But, Lee was also involved in some questionable activities. His successful efforts at calming the turmoil that followed the "Ludlow Massacre" at the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, for instance, embittered labor supporters who saw him as being anti-union and committed to strike-breaking.

More serious criticism arose about his work for I.G. Farben Industrie of Germany in the early 1930s. Although he insisted he never advised any members of the German government, only I.G. Farben managers and only about business matters, Lee was called to testify before a 1934 Congressional hearing where he was accused of being anti-Semitic and of doing propaganda work for the Nazi government. more........

http://www.nku.edu/~turney/prclass/readings/3eras2x.html



America has been stuck on the spin cycle for so long, that people almost refuse to think for themselves anymore. These dumbed down non thinkers are easy pickin's for the miners of the miner's minds.

*****************

Look at this disaster to come in West Virginia.....

West Virginia's Most Massive Coal Waste Impoundment

snip>

Our concerns include:

Catastrophic failure of the impoundment into underlying underground mine works (the same engineers that designed this facility worked on the failed Martin County Coal impoundment), a disaster which could result in the loss of life and unprecedented environmental damage;

Toxic heavy metals (naturally present in coal) and chemicals discharged into streams during blackwater "spills;"

Toxic heavy metals and chemicals leaching from the impoundment into groundwater;

A series of permit violations by Marfork--Brushy Fork has at least been cited at least 37 times, often for blackwater or surface water contamination and runoff;

Potential compaction /engineering problems with the impoundment's dam;

Mountaintop-removal related blasting near the impoundment;

A ludicrous emergency evacuation plan that would have residents going upstream into the sludge to supposedly escape it; Much more...

http://www.ohvec.org/galleries/mountaintop_removal/008/index.html


Tons of enviornmental horror photos and information, on the mining industry vs. employees and neighbors, at this OVEC website...

Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition

http://www.ohvec.org/

[cornermouse]

4. Whatever they do, you can count on the fact that by the

time Congress finishes, it will contain very little of value and will be under continual attack to remove whatever was left.

[awoke_in_2003]

6. Their is the hope

that the states can wake up and start doing this (enforcement and fines) themselves. Heard the governor of west virg last night, he seems pretty pissed.

[Hubert Flottz]

8. The governor is about to be locked in mortal combat with the...

A T Massey Coal's CEO and the like, I'm afraid! WV is so poor that I doubt any investigation and enforcement of any new state regulation will amount to much. If the Governor would slap about an extra dollar a ton tax on coal mined here in WV and use that money to pay for programs that might help out the people of this state, who the coal companies might unfairly exploit and harm.

Stay tuned for the Don and Joey showdown in WV, if Massey Coal's evil repub CEO, Don Blankenship, runs for governor of WV.