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Obama Calls Out Massey on Upper Big Branch Coal Mine Accident (Video)

Timothy B. Hurst — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 17:54:13 +0000

Speaking in the Rose Garden on Thursday, President Obama was critical of both Massey Energy and our system of mine safety oversight. Mr. Obama said the Upper Big Branch Mine accident was "A failure first and foremost of management, but also a failure of oversight and a failure of laws so riddled with loopholes that they allowed unsafe conditions to continue."

Mr. Obama also said that "Owners should be held accountable for preventive measures they failed to take but that this is not an issue of a single accident at a single mine. Rather, Obama stressed, it is an issue of mine safety in general. (Firedoglake)

U.S. Coal Mining Outlook 2010: Few Jobs, Fewer Mountains

Timothy B. Hurst — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 21:54:35 +0000

Coal employment in the coal areas of Virginia, Kentucky and West Virginia since 1983.

Monday's coal mining accident at the Upper Big Branch Coal Mine in West Virginia, where at least 25 miners were killed in a methane gas explosion, has brought considerable attention to the extremely dangerous conditions in which coal miners work, as well as to the broader themes of mine safety and the economics of coal.

One aspect of the economics of coal that has been under-explored by the mainstream media, however, is that these 25 underground miners who lost their lives at the Upper Big Branch Mine were not representative of the typical, modern-day American miner -- because the typical, modern-day American miner isn't even a human being.

Why is this important? One of the principal arguments coming from the coal industry is that moving away from coal as a fuel source would crush the economies of states like West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia. And while that may have been the case 75, 50 or even 25 years ago, it is no longer the case today.

The graph above shows the changing coal employment context in the coal-producing areas of West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky in the last 25 years. As you can see, concomitant with the rise of surface mining is a sharp decline in mining jobs starting in 1985. Where these three states had 60,000 workers employed mining coal in 1985, only half as many could claim the same occupation 25 years later.

On a national scale, it's the same story. Coal productivity per miner has roughly tripled since 1985 in the U.S. which, on the surface--and in purely economic terms--sounds like a "good" thing. But thanks to bigger and more powerful machines, and the onslaught of surface mining operations including the devastating practice of mountaintop removal mining.

"Coal has been a declining part of the Appalachian employment picture for more than half a century," write Bill Bishop and Tim Marema write at the Daily Yonder. "As the industry mechanized, it needed fewer miners. When more coal was mined from the surface, beginning in the early 1960s, the industry needed fewer miners still."

And the long-term statistics behind this pattern of mechanization are truly amazing:

In the United States, coal mining jobs peaked in 1920 when there were roughly three-quarters of a million coal miners producing 658 million tons of coal annually. By 2006, coal production ballooned to 1.16 billion tons annually, but the number of coal miners shrunk to 82,000.

So while the price of coal remains cheap because of industry-wide mechanization and the proliferation of mountaintop removal mining, the socio-ecological cost of coal continues to soar.

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Additional sources: The Daily Yonder; The Maddow Blog

25 Confirmed Dead in Upper Big Branch Coal Mine Accident

Timothy B. Hurst — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 07:12:52 +0000

Valley fill at the Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch surface mine in West Virginia (Photo: OHVEC)

4 miners still missing after deadly explosion at W. Virginia coal mine operated by accident-plagued Massey Energy

The death toll in a West Virginia mining accident could climb to 29 as efforts to reach 4 more trapped miners at the Upper Big Branch South Mine near Whitesville, WV, were suspended early Tuesday morning because of unsafe conditions for rescue crews underground.

[Update w/ video 2:25 p.m. (EDT): Democracy NOW! and Fox News take different angles on the mining accident in West Virginia. Video below.]

Officials from Massey Energy Company, which runs the mine at Upper Big Branch South, said rescue operations were expected to resume as soon as conditions allow.

Don Blankenship, the chief executive officer of Massey Energy Co., said in a statement that the company is "working diligently on rescue efforts."

"Our prayers go out to the families of the miners," he said. "We want to assure the families of all the miners we are taking every action possible to locate and rescue those still missing."

The cause of the 3:30 p.m. explosion at Massey Energy's Performance Coal Co. mine is still not known but dangerously high levels of methane are often to blame for coalmine explosions such as these.

CNN is reporting that Blankenship told West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin that the mine was equipped with rescue chambers stocked with supplies like first-aid kits and oxygen tanks in the event of an emergency. The chambers were put in place after a series of mining disasters in 2006.

"We're very hopeful that the miners who are missing were able to make it to those rescue chambers," said Manchin, who was on his way to the site.

According to U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis, there are nine rescue teams on-site, including teams from Massey Energy and the state of West Virginia. Until rescue operations were suspended early Tuesday morning, Mine Emergency Operations personnel from the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration were accompanying the rescue teams underground.

"Our number one priority is to locate the missing miners and bring them to safety," said Secretary Solis.

West Virginia explosion yet another black mark for Massey

With 2.2 billion tons of coal reserves in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee, Massey Energy (NYSE: MEE) is the largest coal producer in Central Appalachia. But the company has also been beleaguered with safety and environmental violations.

In 2000, a Massey Energy coal slurry impoundment in Martin County, KY, burst and dumped over 300 million gallons of toxic sludge into nearby streams, in what was the largest-ever coal sludge spill in U.S. history.

In the spring of 2010, Massey was called out for 12,000 Clean Water Act violations over an 18-month span in 2008 and 2009. Amazingly, those allegations came soon after Massey paid $20 million in fines to the EPA for 60,000 separate Clean Water Act violations.

Massey's CEO Blankenship is not one to shy away from the public spotlight either -- especially when it comes to battling, "treehugging extremists."

In September 2009, Blankenship hosted a pro-coal, anti-labor, anti-environmentalist rally that was being held because "environmental extremists and corporate America are trying to destroy your jobs," Blankenship said at the time.

And this past January, Blankenship debated with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. about mountaintop removal mining, economic and environmental policy, and the science behind global warming.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs9_3bb4EXk[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aMwijgWAMI[/youtube]

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Photo credit: Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition

No Labor Day Parade for Van Jones

Timothy B. Hurst — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 08:30:40 +0000

Another Labor Day is upon us and that means a little reflection on workers, jobs and the labor movement would be appropriate. Ironically, however, one of the people who is fighting hardest to create more jobs in a new green economy is leaving his job in the White House as Special Adviser to President Obama for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation at the Council on Environmental Quality. In stead of celebrating the birth of a new labor movement—one that brings together former foes in the Democratic tent: labor and environment—we are witnessing the end of a McCarthy-esque witch hunt against Van Jones, a witch hunt spearheaded by Fox News' Glenn Beck.

Perhaps the most disappointing part of Beck's successful campaign against Jones was that it was successful, likely emboldening the likes of Beck and other fear-mongering conservative talk show hosts intent on opposing Democrat policy, regardless of that opposition's impact on the well-being of the country.

Here is what people said about the Van Jones resignation:

Van Jones, former White House special adviser on green jobs:

I am resigning my post at the Council on Environmental Quality, effective today On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me. They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide. I have been inundated with calls - from across the political spectrum - urging me to “stay and fight.”But I came here to fight for others, not for myself. I cannot in good conscience ask my colleagues to expend precious time and energy defending or explaining my past. We need all hands on deck, fighting for the future.

It has been a great honor to serve my country and my President in this capacity. I thank everyone who has offered support and encouragement. I am proud to have been able to make a contribution to the clean energy future. I will continue to do so, in the months and years ahead.

Glenn Beck, Fox News:

The American people stood up and demanded answers. Instead of providing them, the Administration had Jones resign under cover of darkness. I continue to be amazed by the power of everyday Americans to initiate change in our government through honest questioning, and judging by the other radicals in the administration, I expect that questioning to continue for the foreseeable future.

Howard Dean, Former Chairman of the Democratic National Committee:

Well, I was just going to say this guy’s Yale-educated lawyer. He’s a best-selling author about his specialty. I think he was brought down. I think it’s too bad. Washington’s a tough place that way, and I think it’s a loss for the country.

Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Ten):

Well, I don’t think he’s the issue. I think the czars are the issue. We have about two dozen so-called czars—the pay czar, the car czar, all these czars in the White House.

And that really is an affront to the Constitution, because the Constitution was set up to say that the president is the executive, but the people who manage the government the secretaries, the Cabinet members, of which I was one, have to be approved by the Congress and have to report to the Congress.

John Podesta, President and CEO of the Center for American Progress:

Van Jones is an exceptional and inspired leader who has fought to bring economic and environmental justice to communities across our country. He has chosen to resign because he believed he was serving as a distraction to the president’s agenda. I respect that decision.

Van was working to build a common ground agenda for all Americans, and I am confident he will continue that work. Unfortunately, his critics on the right could find no common ground with him.

Carl Pope, Sierra Club Executive Director:

This was a lynch mob and, when it started forming a month ago, we didn't take it seriously enough. When I saw the first Glenn Beck piece on Van Jones and the Apollo Alliance as the new vast left-wing conspiracy, I could not take it seriously. Silence enabled Fox to keep pushing.

Image via Center for American Progress Action Fund

Vestas Factory in UK Will Now Only Partially Close

Timothy B. Hurst — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:59:11 +0000

[Originally published at Red, Green and Blue] Twenty-five workers holed-up in the Vestas facility on the UK's Isle of Wight for about a week now may have saved their jobs if a proposed deal is agreed upon by both parties. But even if the deal does go through, only a small portion of the workers will keep their jobs as the funding is only enough to keep the company's offshore research and development division alive. The majority of the over six hundred employees at the two closing Vestas plants will be losing their jobs.

The blade plant on the Isle of Wight was in the process of researching and testing the world's longest wind turbine blade—a project that will likely continue thanks to the deal announced Monday.

The sluggish turbine market and political opposition to large-scale wind development in the UK are being cited as reasons for the plant closures by Vestas officials. Company officials said they would likely be shifting production of its onshore turbines to its facilities in Colorado.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband told the BBC: "I'm very sorry for the people who may be losing their jobs in the Isle of Wight."

"We've announced £6m today to help Vestas build a research and development facility into offshore wind which should employ around 150 people," said Milliband.

The workers, who are not members of a union, began their sit-in protest on 20 July. But a few days into the action, local unions including The Rail Maritime and Transport union and the Respect party showed their solidarity with the protesting workers inside the offices and have offered support for the workers by representing them in upcoming court appearances, organizing protest activities, handling donations, etc.

The 25-workers continue to occupy the Vestas administrative offices as of Monday night. A court order will be sought by Vestas to regain control of the factory when they meet with representatives of the non-union workers on Wednesday.

Even if the majority of the Vestas workers do lose their jobs right now, the workers should be lauded for their courage. That kind of stuff just doesn't happen in the United States. You occupy a place of work that is going to close down, you go to jail. Plain and simple. It is rare that you see direct actions like these actually work in the U.S.

One system is not necessarily better than the other. But Brits and Europeans are used to a strong, active labor presence and direct actions that take people and institutions out of their comfort zones. They are used to groups and individuals employing strong, direct action to achieve social, economic and environmental goals.

And finally, they are used to the government taking one on the chin every now and again for the public good.

Image darrangange