The coal mining industry has sunk to new lows this month. Starting off with the Crandall Canyon mining disaster in Utah where there are still six miners and several rescue workers trapped in a mountain mine co-owned by Bob Murray. Murray has reportedly said that mining may resume on other parts of the same mountain in the future. Yes, you read that correctly--the miners are not even out of the mountain yet, and the co-owner of the mine is already talking about putting more lives in jeopardy through further excavation from the same site. WOW.

And not that you really need another reason why the Bush Administration has the WORST sense of timing possible, they just approved an expansion of a rule that allows for mountaintop mining--which pretty much means miners can blast off the top on mountains and leave the rock and soil they blasted off in the valleys and streams that sit below the mountains. Again, WOW.

So, not only are people's lives put in jeopardy by mining the coal, now their drinking water can be contaminated by mining, too. WOW. I'm really not sure what else needs to happen before we switch to a more renewable energy infrastructure...all this recent activity makes things pretty clear for me...have you ever heard of someone pinned to death under a solar panel or wind turbine? Since miners can now blow off the tops of mountains, I guess the whole "wind turbines ruin the view" argument isn't really relevant anymore. Hmpf!

Labels: coal, mining, sarah