An unbelievable mining accident happened yesterday in West Virginia, killing 25, with 4 missing. The mine is owned by Performance Coal, a subsidiary of Massey Energy Co.-the "largest coal producer in Central Appalachia" which had a "record setting year for safety" in 2009. Also, you know: helmed by pretty much just evil, in the form of CEO Don Blankenship: "Union leaders say Mr. Blankenship, 56, is the main reason that less than a quarter of the state's coal miners are now organized, down from about 95 percent just three decades ago. And environmentalists describe him as the biggest force behind a highly destructive form of mining called mountaintop removal that involves using explosives to blow off the tops of mountains to reach coal seams."
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
20
From their January 21st debate:
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. :"My question to you, and I know you're an honest person, I want to ask you this question: Is it possible to do mountaintop removal mining without violating the law?"
Don Blankenship: "I doubt it's possible without having a single violation at a single time."
See also: 12,900 violations [in one year] of Clean Water Act Compliance
Do you have a link to transcripts or video of that debate?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hupEtKRV0GM
That's a link to part 1 of 9, the other 8 parts will be there in the related videos section.
Thx.
Those miners wouldn't have been trapped if the company had been allowed to remove the mountain on top of the precious coal, leaving them happily digging in an open trench, exposed to the glorious spring sunshine.
Honestly, we'll all be better off when the entire earth is a gash.
Change "the mountain" to "the evil mountain" and release it.
-Don
This was my first thought, that this will be turned into an argument for mountaintop-removal by Massey.
CEO Don Blankenship is also on the Board of Directors of the US Chamber of Commerce, guaranteeing environmental protection laws are kept lax, the card check bill never passes, and America believes Climate Change is a lie.
http://www.uschamber.com/about/board/directory/blankenship.htm
Just read the profile of Blankenship.
Wow.
I think we have a new candidate for "WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD"!!!111!!11
I hope everyone noticed that Obama's EPA just strengthened Clean Water Act regs in a way that will make mountaintop removal mining much much harder if not a thing of the past. These things often don't get much play but matter a lot.
http://www.register-herald.com/todaysfrontpage/x1687696476/New-EPA-rules-to-limit-mountaintop-removal
Also, is anyone distressed by the smile on Ms. Chamberlin's face? It is as if someone is dangling her baby over an open flaming pit until the photo session is finished.
Okay, serious question: Has anyone with the first name of "Don" ever not been a huge fucking asshole? Parents, stop letting your Donalds go by Don.
My uncle was pretty great, and funny as hell too (RIP).
Dude also basically bought a WV Supreme Court justice in order to win a case on appeal. You know it's bad when the U.S. Supreme Court finds it distastful. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caperton_v._A.T._Massey_Coal_Co.#History
Good thing all our computers run on solar power so we don't have to benefit from all that nasty coal.
Tis true, half of our electricity comes from coal. But there is no way in this day and age that mountaintop mining should be compatable with the clean water act. I mean, the dinky things you need permits for, and then they just bury vast stretches of streams and that's ok? Makes no sense.
You want to see a scary video of Dandy Don from a couple of years ago, check out this page:
http://www.catastrophemap.com/mountaintop_mining.html
Don reveals that God in favor of coal, among other things.
That's some Biff Tannen/Biffco level stuff right there.
You people are prone to going over the top and it is a tendency made all the more obvious when it is directed against a man who makes molehills out of mountains.
No way am I going to get enraged at blowing up mountains. If there is a more awesome way to get coal i've yet to hear it. If it turns out managerial negligence was responsible for this accident i'll reconsider my estimation of Blankenship. On current evidence, however, he is a great guy and i'll side with him against nature every time. Go marry a tributary if you love water so much.