Category: Coal Industry
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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, most of which aimed at the EPA. What is most disturbing however, is the amount of blind support they receive from the coal mining families. There is…
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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 about places where the United States treats people more like a totalitarian regime than the “free” country we pledge allegiance to in schools every morning. Just as…
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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, nice vehicles, nice this…nice that. Happiness is no longer admiring the small things—happiness became what people on TV told us it should be, it became what salesmen…
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Coal Dust and Corporate Jets
The mantrip reaches #1 section where it slows to stop. The mine air is cool and thick with the familiar dank smell of coal, rock dust, and mold. The foreman asks one of the men to give a quick prayer for the crew. “Our heavenly father, watch over us today as we do our work,…
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Coal Miners are Good People
I’ve often stated that younger coal miners have a tendency to get themselves into large amounts of debt. It’s easy to do when you grow up in a low income household, start making decent money, and your coal company pay stub acts as instant credit with many local banks and auto dealerships. When the coal…
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Coal, Greed, and Maintaining a Captive Generational Workforce
Previously titled “Guess Who Wants Your Kids to Work in a Coal Mine?” There are many resources in Appalachia that make men wealthy. But without people, those resources would stay locked in the ground. After all, no one has been able to design fully autonomous machines to produce coal. Without coal miners the coal industry…
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A Coal Miner’s Health: Short Term Gains and Long Term loss
Coal mining is dangerous work. Spend any length of time talking with a group of underground coal miners and you are sure to hear “war stories” about close calls with severe injury or even death. Every aspect of the job requires a constant vigilance for potential hazards. Countless miners have been killed by collapses…