Coal Miner Deaths Nearly Double
Strangely, most of us have a pathological need to be able to say “I told you so,” though it’s certainly nothing to be proud of. Does any decent person root for climate change to ravage this planet so he or she can be right? Let’s hope not.
A friend who co-coached with me our sons’ all-star soccer teams, when he learned that I was an environmentalist, told me that he’s a Christian, and that he actively anticipates Armageddon, the end of the Earth, so that he and is fellow believers can be spirited away to live with Jesus, while the faithless (suggesting my family and me) will burn in hell for eternity. That got my attention, needless to say.
In the same vein, let’s move on to the news of the day. Of course, I don’t root for the demise of coal workers, but it’s apparently true that the coal industry suffered almost twice as many deaths in the first year of the Trump presidency than it had the year before. That’s a shame, it’s a tragedy, and no one wins in this event.
Craig,
WTF ? 15 deaths in an industry that supplies nearly 33% of US power? But even then, that figure isn’t really true is it? The article includes 3 workers killed in coal related jobs, 1 road accident with a coal truck, 1 bulldozer driver working on a reclamation site and one office worker killed by a staircase collapse on mining site.
But so what ? These deaths, sad as they certainly are, are evidence of increased mining activity and a much higher work force.
The only reason the numbers are still very low for such a big industry is most mining nowadays is heavily mechanized. The real growth in coal mining employment isn’t actually in mining but administration, equipment sales and maintenance, construction, distribution, technology, transport, site rehabilitation, engineering, ancillary services, etc, etc.
However, you should perhaps be more concerned about deaths caused by employment in the Solar and Wind industries.
The statistics are hard to find, but according to the American Academy of Actuaries employees working on installing Solar in the US are 38 times more likely to be killed in workplace accidents than the Coal industry, while Wind Power installers and maintenance is still 11 times more risky !
Yet these two industries still produce less than 5% of usable power in the US.
Once again your outrage is not only inaccurate, but very selective!
Coal mining which was once one of the most dangerous industries, is today one of the safest. Accidents in coal mines are relatively rare but when they do occur, the mine usually has a lot of experience in providing immediate and expert assistance.
Many roof solar installers are often little more than day labourers, employed by sub-contractors with little back up in the advent of an emergency. Some of these workers are day labourers with no insurance. few householders realize in the advent of a fatal accident, the householder in some jurisdictions may be liable, and may not realize the home insurance public liability may not cover such claims.
Wind installers and maintenance crews are probably better trained, although not according to the US Department of Labor. US Department of Labor has produced some damning statistics regarding safety in the Wind industry, particular in construction and maintenance safety training. In many cases cheap, unskilled undocumented migrant labour is used and a percentage of injuries and even deaths go unreported.
But I dare say we won’t hear a squeak of concern regarding these employees, will we eh ?