Tragedy in the Snow

Abstract

safety or health, they just wanted the coal out of the ground. I expect more from Congress. Don't weaken the federal law; let MSHA have the tools it needs to protect our health and safety." When Shepherd finished testifying, the hearing room erupted with applause for the only time that day. Coal miners, frustrated by the repeated assaults (oftentimes from those who knew little or nothing about the realities of mining) on a federal law and agency that has served them well, reacted spontaneously to the experiential wisdom of one of their own. Danny Shepherd knows what it's like to work deep inside the bowels of a mountain, in a dark, dusty maze of tunnels only thirty to fifty inches high, amidst powerful machinery and potentially explosive gases and coal dust, where the slightest mistake can mean the loss of an arm, a leg, or his life. He knows what it's like to work in a mine where the operator's primary concern is not his health and safety, but how much coal the mining crew can gouge from the coal seam, and where the bosses regularly ignore basic safety requirements to boost production. Shepherd knows what it's like to go to work wondering whether he'll have enough air to breathe, whether the worn electrical cables he'll be handling will protect him from electrocution, or whether the creaking roof over his head will fall and kill him. Indeed, Shepherd knows all too well the arduous and uncertain life of an Eastern Kentucky coal miner. Ballenger and his colleagues should listen to Shepherd and heed his advice, but—as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow—you know they won't. Privileged Republican Congressmen don't have to worry about working underground, about breathing bad air, or about the roof in their workplace falling—and, frankly, they don't care about those who do. Mine safety just isn't part of the right wing's agenda. There's no money in it. Just lives. Tragedy in the Snow Red snow, scattered feathers, a bird cries for his mate. The cat sleeps peacefully, without remorse. —Aubrey G. Bebout ...