West Virginia Mine Disaster: Where are we now?

Yet once again, it seems like we had a lot of great ideas and ambitions about the coal mining industry in the wake of one of the worst coal mining accidents in our nation's history. But, one year later, where are we? Look at the story coming out of the Huffington Post. Do you think we have our priorities straight?

It reads, "A year after the worst coal mining accident in decades took the lives of 29 workers, prompting urgent calls to revamp oversight of one of the country's most dangerous jobs, not much has changed in the lives of those who toil deep underground.

Soon after the disaster on April 5, 2010, lawmakers in Congress and West Virginia vowed to overhaul mine safety laws and investigators promised to swiftly find the cause of the explosion that roared through the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia the day after Easter.

Despite the widespread media coverage and passionate speeches, a bill that would have made it easier to shut down problem mines and increased penalties for serious safety violations was quietly defeated in early December. As The Huffington Post reported that month, the legislation died due to a combination of inattention, intensive lobbying efforts by a powerful industry and mine workers' lack of political clout.

Though West Virginia's then-governor Joe Manchin pledged that he would "move quicker than the feds," the state has failed to pass any mine safety package. His successor, Earl Ray Tomblin, did sign two mine safety bills but they were watered down almost completely -- instead of requiring changes, they called for studies -- reports the Charleston Daily Mail."


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