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. I was not entirely unsurprised to find that everyone was about saving “coal,” but I was surprised that no one would answer my question directly. I pondered this a few days and decided to finally lay it out…
First, let me start by defining “coal”…
I believe in their context, “coal” is the coal industry. You cannot save a rock, nor can a “life of coal” be a tangible object or organization capable of being saved, so “coal” becomes the coal industry
It bothers me how people have become so infatuated with saving “coal” that they choose to ignore such tragic events as the Upper Big Branch disaster and the outcome of investigations making it blatantly clear that—yet again—the greed of the coal industry succeeded in putting profit before the welfare of its employees. Some may say, “That was only one company,” but I disagree. I do not blame only one company for the many tragedies in which mountain people have suffered great losses of life, health, and land. I blame all of the companies whom I combine into the term “industry.” It is they who, in a mutual effort, continue to make people desperate enough to work dangerously within their coal mines.
Company names may change, companies may claim to be entirely different having different stock portfolios, different management, different operations—but each put their money into the same campaign funds and into the same organizations and associations who lobby our representatives to write laws and regulations to their advantage.
The evidence is there, but people choose to ignore it. See my previous post on Appalachian ignorance and stereotypes.
Just a brief examination of statistical data shows that poverty rates in the coalfields remain some of the highest in the nation despite the supposed number of coal mining jobs. Data also shows that the people of the coalfields have the poorest health, and I will not even begin to delve into social mobility scores.
When looking at other areas of Appalachia with similar terrain and infrastructure who prosper without coal, it’s hard to ignore the coal industry’s socioeconomic stranglehold placed on our communities. Coal’s powerful influence has remained for so long that a form of the Stockholm Syndrome has begun, thanks in large part to well-funded media and propaganda campaigns initiated by an industry who faces downgrading their profits from “insane” to “still pretty f***ing amazing.”
Only three decades ago, a majority of Appalachian coal mining families upheld an absolute and well-founded distrust of the coal industry. Today we have witnessed a complete turnaround in the attitudes regarding the industry’s presence, or at least within the majority of people who I have been able to identify.
From my observations, those who praise coal seem to fall into one of three categories….
- Those making the great paychecks, even at the cost of their health….most of which are in debt up to their eyeballs, and some of which live outside of coal extraction zones where they do not have to contend with the messes being left behind.
- Those in managerial or business ownership roles making even better paychecks from coal extraction, and again living outside of the coal extraction zones.
- Those who have no true understanding of the matter and simply jump on the bandwagon without proper consideration of the facts because it gives them a cause to rally behind with the common misconception that they are “helping people.”
Ready for it again? “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” -Upton Sinclair.
So coal miners, if you are reading this, (big IF I know, sadly) here’s my advice.
I can no longer tiptoe around this idea. As unfortunate as the circumstances are for those of you who supported the coal industry and are now facing layoffs—luck favors the prepared. Going out to curse at “hippies” and support an industry that has never shown one iota of appreciation, much less respect, for Appalachian people, is not a very intelligent means of preparing your family for the day when coal markets bottom out.
First, realize that coal markets have always boomed and busted and prepare yourself for the coming layoffs. Eliminate debts and put money back, seek alternative job training (if you can on rotating shifts)1, and getting politicians to work for us and not the coal companies would be a much better use of your time and energy. By supporting the same ruthless coal corporation, you have not only hurt yourselves, but you have hurt the other people of Appalachia.
Even if you were to impeach Obama and all of the “anti-coal” politicians in Washington, it won’t cause China to start buying and using more coal when their citizens are choking to death around their cities. It won’t keep other people from around this nation from standing up for cleaner air. It won’t keep the natural gas industry from competing with coal (though I have just as much hatred of them given hydraulic fracturing, and well, they are oil companies after all). Public opinion stands, and because the rest of the nation wants a cleaner, healthier environment for their children and you don’t, well… majority rules. Ain’t that a bitch.
Again, if you still do not believe me about the coal industry, this article points directly to their true nature. Take time to justify the Crandall Canyon Disaster, the Sago Mine Disaster, Scotia, Buffalo Creek, Hurricane Creek, and Consol 9. I think you will find they were all preventable, and all were because of mine executives and managers cutting corners in pursuit of more profit for themselves, and nothing more for the miners and their families.
Undoubtedly, there will be those who will argue with me. They will completely disregard the hundreds of statistics and blatant evidence of political corruption. They will scream “Coal Keeps the Lights On,” “I’m proud to be a coal miner,” “Proud to be a coal miner’s wife,” “Proud to know a coal miner.” Some will call me a “disgruntled employee,” the new means of discrediting someone who calls out the flaws of their employer. I doubt those people will change their way of thinking…it takes too much effort to do so. It would mean having to take a huge hit to their ego as well as working hard to adapt to a life without the many wonderful toys they’ve come to enjoy…darn.
I’m sorry my fellow coal miners, the job you do and the industry you support is doing more harm than good to the people of Appalachia and, well, the rest of the world. It is not new knowledge. It’s been written and talked about since the industry came to the mountains. Just because you choose to ignore it doesn’t make it “alright.” There is no denying that coal fuels a sense of greed and selfishness that has been tearing communities apart for the past 150 years.
All those lights folks keep talking about keeping on—most of them are on because people are to damn wasteful. In the case of businesses, that electricity is wasted to make more profit while management pays as little a wage as they can get by with, thereby ensuring a strong quarterly statement for their already wealthy shareholders but keeping their good-hearted, hard working employees in a constant struggle. It’s just business though, right? I mean, I never knew a poor person to give someone a job. Isn’t that what y’all like to say?
It doesn’t take as much coal as what is being produced to operate the basic necessities: clothes manufacturing, food storage, medical care, heating and cooling in efficiently built houses and buildings. In fact, it doesn’t take any coal, probably not even natural gas, and if you really think about it, it doesn’t take more than our own human energy to provide our basic necessities to survive. American Indians thrived on this continent and enjoyed periods of profound contentment and happiness until wealthy Europeans decided to take it from them and mercilessly slaughter them for being “uncivilized.”
Most of the coal you are so proudly producing is just being wasted so power companies and coal companies can make insanely high profits that we will never enjoy the benefits of. So here is another way of thinking of it folks; you produce the dirtiest energy in the world so it can be wasted by spoiled teenagers and extraordinarily wealthy assholes living in huge mansions. Coal keeps the lights on! Keep saying it.
The pride of the Appalachian people used to come from being self-reliant. It was the honest and well deserved pride of doing their best with very little all the while helping neighbors. When coal companies came, our pride shifted to preserve our dignity in the face of outside industrialists who were single-handedly destroying our mountain ways of life and happiness.
Today, having pride in destroying your health for a paycheck just to afford more than you need, all while perpetuating a system of greed and oppression, well…that’s not a very good thing to be proud of in my opinion.
You want something to be proud of? How about living on less so future generations can drink the water and breath the air.
- Rotating shifts are a great way for coal companies to prevent miners from a.) Having time outside the mines to organize with other crews and demand better treatment, and b.) It makes it hard for miners to better themselves and move on from coal mining. In other words, captive workforce retention. ↩︎