West Virginia Republicans Sens. Jim Justice and Shelley Moore Capito pose with coal miners at a White House event where President Donald Trump signed executive orders loosening coal mining rules. (Courtesy Office of Sen. Shelley Moore Capito)
I’ve always found the bumper sticker “Friends of Coal” weird. Why be friends with a fossil fuel? Especially one that has resulted in so much disease, death, and ruin across the state.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, black lung affects around 20% of coal miners in Central Appalachia. This is the largest number of black lung cases in more than 25 years.
Coal miners are also getting the cancer at a younger age because they have to dig through so much silica-rich sandstone to get to the coal, West Virginia Watch reporter Caity Coyne reported last summer.
Our politicians are continually talking about promoting coal and how former President Joe Biden damaged coal production. They say they want to advocate for coal. In actuality, they are merely advocating for coal mine owners to have fewer rules so they can make more money.
And, let’s be honest, coal mine owners in West Virginia consistently demonstrate a lack of concern for coal miners.
For over a decade, the U.S. Department of Labor issued monthly newsletters outlining MSHA inspections of mines with a history of safety and health breaches. These stories began following the Upper Big Branch Mine tragedy in West Virginia, which killed 29 miners in April 2010.
Saturday was the 15th anniversary of the biggest mining accident in the United States since 1970.
A little history about the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster— The MSHA’s final investigation determined that
“Massey’s corporate culture was the root cause of the tragedy.” MSHA issued 369 citations and orders to Massey Energy Co., the mine’s owner, and its subsidiary, Performance Coal Co., including a “unprecedented 21 flagrant violations, which carry the most serious civil penalties available under the law.”
Don Blankenship, the former CEO of Massey Energy, was convicted of conspiring to breach mine safety and health requirements, which contributed to the catastrophe. He served one year in prison.
The last MSHA newsletter was published in January, before President Donald Trump took office. The top of the final press release reads, “Please note: As of 01/20/2025, information in some news releases may be out of date or do not reflect current policies.”
You’re probably aware with another coal mine owner, West Virginia Senator Jim Justice.
Despite repeatedly stating that he did not want to travel to Washington, D.C., Justice ran for and won a seat in the United States Senate.
The Justice family owns nearly two dozen coal companies and owes the federal government more than $409,000 in unpaid mine safety fines. Last month, the corporations agreed to pay off their debts by May 1.
If West Virginia’s congressional delegation cares about coal and coal miners, explain why none of them supports the Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act, which was presented Thursday by Sen. Tim Kaine and Rep. Bobby Scott, both of whom represent Virginia.
Senators Justice and Shelley Moore Capito, Reps. Carol Miller, and Riley Moore, why are you not supporting this bill, named for our previous senator, that tries to assist coal miners?
“Miners face enormous risks to power our nation. While we’ve made progress to support them, such as increasing the Black Lung Disability Trust excise tax and strengthening silica standards, the Trump Administration’s recent actions have undermined decades of work to improve coal miners’ protections,” Kaine said in a press release.
“This legislation is critical to strengthening safety standards and holding mine operators accountable for unsafe working conditions.”
To be clear, while our politicians have kept silent, our coal miners’ health and safety are directly threatened right now, right under their noses.
Last week, a federal appeals court placed a temporary hold on the implementation of what advocates describe a long-overdue industry rule that would have lowered the amount of harmful silica dust coal miners are exposed to while working.
The rule, which merely applies the same exposure limitations to the mining industry that have been in place in other industries for years under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, was slated to take effect for coal mines next week.
Officials stated last year that the regulation would have undoubtedly saved thousands of lives by restricting exposure to silica dust, the major cause of black lung disease. However, with the ruling of the 8th United States Circuit Court of Appeals, the rule’s ultimate fate remains undetermined.
The Trump administration will close 33 MSHA field offices. According to the Appalachian Citizens Law Center, these closures may result in a major reduction in the number of staff and inspections designed to prevent hazardous dust exposure, mining accidents and fatalities, and disasters.
According to the Appalachian Citizens Law Center, closing these offices will, at the very least, severely impair inspectors’ capacity to do their work on schedule by significantly expanding the zone they must traverse from surviving locations. “At worst, staff and inspection numbers could be sharply reduced.”
The Department of Government Efficiency also laid off hundreds of staff at Morgantown’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. According to Cathy Tinney-Zara, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3040, the office is scheduled to close completely.
NIOSH conducts black lung research and screening.
“It is devastating. Tinney-Zara stated, “People will die.” “There is no one else in the government who handles occupational safety and health. There is no one else in the United States. NIOSH is the sole group that focuses on occupational safety and health. “We conduct research to make everyone’s jobs safer.”
To her credit, Capito stated that she has “strong disagreements” with the Trump administration’s approach to reducing federal personnel in West Virginia and informed reporters that she will be speaking with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about the NIOSH layoffs.
It’s about time Capito acquired a backbone. Senator, please teach the rest of your delegation how to stand up to Trump when he is harming your citizens.
It’s time for our political officials to be coal workers’ friends, not “friends of coal.”
