Rand Paul: Regulating Black Lung Could Be Too Pricey For Big Coal

[Tx4obama]

WASHINGTON -- With American miners still succumbing to black lung disease, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has proposed a plan to reduce the number of such deaths through the stricter regulation of mining sites. But at a congressional committee meeting last week, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) voiced concern that the new regulations may not be worth the cost to coal companies -- even though pockets of his state have been designated black lung “hot spots” by the federal government.

In a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee, Paul also asserted that the number of black lung cases has been on the decline. But according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), in recent years such incidences have in fact been on the rise in certain areas of coal country.

"Every regulation doesn't save lives," Paul said in the hearing, later adding that the regulations so far have done a “pretty good job” of reducing black lung. "There is a point or a balancing act between when a regulation becomes burdensome enough that our energy production is stifled. We have to assess the costs of regulation and whether they save lives."

SNIP

“I thought it was outrageous,” said Stephen Sanders, director of the Appalachian Citizens' Law Center, a Kentucky-based non-profit that supports black lung prevention regulations and other mine safety causes. “What he’s suggesting is to keep the cost of coal down we would jeopardize the health of coal miners.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/07/rand-paul-black-lung-big-coal_n_845840.html

[freshwest]

1. He's no different than the rest of the Tea Party with their John Galt signs.

[Ohio Joe]

2. So it is just better to let corporations kill people for profits Rand?

You fucking douchebag.

[catgirl]

3. The guy is a stupid liar

He throws out his "facts", which aren't correct. They're lies.

[hadrons]

4. However Rand will allow the coalminers to keep their guns ...

which to too many in his state is what they care about above almost anything else

[SolutionisSolidarity]

5. I wonder if any politicians from his state support the new standards.

These coal state politicians are the worst, and the Democrats are often almost as bad as the Republicans. American style democracy is just the rich guys getting together to tell the suckers what to think.

[DBoon]

6. Rand Paul to Coal Miners: Your Life is Cheap

"you obviously don't have the same drive and ambition as the munificent capitalists who own you, so you deserve to die painfully and slowly. It's the price you pay for bad life choices. DOn't expect the nanny state to save your ass."