Sen. Byrd Rips Into Mining Industry for Putting Coal Above People

[babylonsister]

http://washingtonindependent.com/84036/byrd-rips-into-mining-industry-for-putting-coal-above-people


Byrd Rips Into Mining Industry for Putting Coal Above People
By Mike Lillis 5/5/10 2:29 PM


Late last year, as Democrats were considering climate change bills and the Obama administration was mulling new regulations to rein in mountaintop removal coal mining, Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) — a longtime defender of the coal industry and the jobs it creates in Appalachia — shocked observers in Washington and West Virginia alike when he called on the coal industry to embrace the changes happening around them.

“West Virginians can choose to anticipate change and adapt to it, or resist and be overrun by it,” he wrote at the time.

Today, the 92-year-old Byrd takes those sentiments a giant step further, ripping into the industry for a failure to consider the detrimental effects that mining has on the local environment and the folks who live there — the same sentiment that environmentalists and community activists have been voicing for decades, usually to deaf ears.

“The monolithic power of industry should never dominate our politics to the detriment of local communities,” he wrote in an op-ed featured in the local press. He was referring not only to the practice of mountaintop removal, but the absence of concern for the safety of miners that’s been to focus of great interest since 29 miners were killed in Montcoal, W.Va., exactly a month ago.

Byrd goes so far as to threaten irresponsible companies with extinction.

A single miner’s life is certainly worth the expense and effort required to enhance safety. West Virginia has some of the highest quality coal in the world, and mining it should be considered a privilege, not a right.

Any company that establishes a pattern of negligence resulting in injuries and death should be replaced by a company that conducts business more responsibly. No doubt many energy companies are keen for a chance to produce West Virginia coal. (Emphasis mine.)

The target here, of course, is Massey Energy — for reasons that become clearer each day. Not only does the Virginia-based coal giant own the mine where last month’s Montcoal blast occurred, but more and more Massey employees — both active and former — are coming forward with horror stories about the safety policies of the company.

But there’s more. Byrd then takes on the industry over mountaintop removal, a practice in which companies blast the tops off of mountains to reach the coal seams inside. In the process, the excess soil, rock and other debris are pushed into adjacent valleys, many of which contain the headwater streams for larger bodies of water below.

“The industry of coal must also respect the land that yields the coal, as well as the people who live on the land,” Byrd wrote. “If the process of mining destroys nearby wells and foundations, if blasting and digging and relocating streams unearths harmful elements and releases them into the environment causing illness and death, that process should be halted and the resulting hazards to the community abated.”

In short, Byrd ends, the old adage is wrong: Coal is not West Virginia’s most valuable asset. Its people are.

[Hannah Bell]

1. byrd's been senator of w va for *how* long? heckuvajob, ya bloviator.

[babylonsister]

2. Thank you, Senator Byrd, for actually sticking up for your

constituents. That is a rarity these days.

[happyslug]

3. Robert Byrd's entire Press Release

May 05, 2010

Opinion Piece: "Our Greatest Resource"

News organizations seeking more information should contact Senator Byrd's Communications Office at [phone].

The recent explosion at the Upper Big Branch coal mine in my home county of Raleigh, which killed 29 West Virginians and injured 2 others, has brought West Virginia statewide sorrow and worldwide attention.

Reflecting on President John F. Kennedy's death, Robert F. Kennedy once said, "Tragedy is a tool for the living to gain wisdom."

As we seek to understand how and why the Upper Big Branch disaster occurred, we might also re-examine conventional wisdom about the future of the coal industry in our state.

Americans depend mightily on our coal to meet their energy needs. Coal is the major source of electricity in 32 states, and produces roughly half of all the electricity consumed in the United States.

As West Virginians, our birthright is coal. The ancient fossil is abundant here, and is as emblematic of our heritage and cultural identity as the black bear, the cardinal, and the rhododendron.

Indeed, the coal severance tax codifies the philosophy that the coal belongs to all West Virginians, and that they deserve meaningful compensation for its extraction. This philosophy has also been embraced nationwide, through the Black Lung Excise Tax, the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fee, and several other existing and proposed programs that provide additional compensation to the people and places that produce our coal, oil, gas, and other energy resources.

Coal brings much needed jobs and revenue to our economy. But the industry has a larger footprint, including inherent responsibilities that must be acknowledged by the industry.

First and foremost, the coal industry must respect the miner and his family. A single miner's life is certainly worth the expense and effort required to enhance safety. West Virginia has some of the highest quality coal in the world, and mining it should be considered a privilege, not a right. Any company that establishes a pattern of negligence resulting in injuries and death should be replaced by a company that conducts business more responsibly. No doubt many energy companies are keen for a chance to produce West Virginia coal.

The industry of coal must also respect the land that yields the coal, as well as the people who live on the land. If the process of mining destroys nearby wells and foundations, if blasting and digging and relocating streams unearths harmful elements and releases them into the environment causing illness and death, that process should be halted and the resulting hazards to the community abated.

The sovereignty of West Virginia must also be respected. The monolithic power of industry should never dominate our politics to the detriment of local communities. Our coal mining communities do not have to be marked by a lack of economic diversity and development that can potentially squelch the voice of the people. People living in coal communities deserve to have a free hand in managing their own local affairs and public policies without undue political pressure to submit to the desires of industry.

We have coal companies in West Virginia which go out of their way to operate safely and with minimal impact on our environment. Those companies should be commended and rewarded.

But the coal industry has an immensely powerful lobby in Washington and in Charleston. For nearly a hundred years they have come to our presidents, our members of Congress, our legislators, our mayors, and our county commissioners to demand their priorities. It is only right that the people of West Virginia speak up and make the coal industry understand what is expected of it in return.

The old chestnut that "coal is West Virginia's greatest natural resource" deserves revision. I believe that our people are West Virginia's most valuable resource. We must demand to be treated as such.

http://byrd.senate.gov/mediacenter/view_article.cfm?ID=651

[TreasonousBastard]

4. About fucking time-- look what it took to get him to notice.