• Buffalo Creek Disaster – 42 years Later & Still Remembering

    Buffalo Creek Disaster – 42 years Later & Still Remembering

    Forty-two years ago people were suffering from the terrible loss of their loved ones and all they knew. The reason, a cheaply built slurry impoundment. Coal companies put…

    Continue Reading

    4 min read

  • Going Against the Grain

    Going Against the Grain

    Many people consider me to be going “against the grain” when it comes to coal politics. I am, after all, very active in social justice these days and…

    Continue Reading

    4 min read

  • Remembering the South Mountain No. 3 Mine Explosion

    Remembering the South Mountain No. 3 Mine Explosion

    December 7th, 1992 was a cold Monday morning. My brother and I were getting ready for school when the phone rang a little after 6:45 am. Mom answered…

    Continue Reading

    4 min read

  • Fueling the Fires of Ignorance

    Fueling the Fires of Ignorance

    If you take time to frequent a pro-coal Facebook page such as Count on Coal, you may or may not be surprised by the statements you find there,…

    Continue Reading

    4 min read

  • Job Alternatives for Coal Miners

    Job Alternatives for Coal Miners

    If you ask a coal miner about the “War on Coal,” chances are you’ll get an earful about the EPA, President Obama, and all of the environmentalists who…

    Continue Reading

    4 min read

  • Telling it how it is….

    Telling it how it is….

    I recently engaged in a conversation with people on the “Coal Miners Light” Facebook page, asking pro-coal followers if they wanted their children to become future coal miners.…

    Continue Reading

    4 min read

  • Are We Ignorant Hillbillies?

    Are We Ignorant Hillbillies?

    Previously titled “Ignorance – Fighting the Appalachian Stereotype” Appalachians have been looked down upon, made fun of, and dehumanized as “uneducated,” “backwards,” or just down right “ignorant.” I…

    Continue Reading

    4 min read

  • Black Mesa: Some Lines Must Be Drawn

    Black Mesa: Some Lines Must Be Drawn

    Black Mesa, or Big Mountain, is a mesa situated in the northeastern corner of Arizona within the Navajo Nation Reservation. Never heard of it? Not surprising. Few people know…

    Continue Reading

    4 min read

  • True Appalachians

    True Appalachians

    We are finding more and more ways to overextend ourselves in Appalachia. Our wants create debt; our debts force us to work dangerous environmentally destructive jobs. Nice homes,…

    Continue Reading

    4 min read

  • How do you convince a coal miner?

    How do you convince a coal miner?

    People keep asking me, “How do we convince coal miners we need change?” My answers vary from week to week and I do not pretend to be an…

    Continue Reading

    4 min read