Louisville Courier-Journal Smacks Down Elaine & Mitch on Mine Safety
Ouch. After two separate government reports in ten days slammed Elaine Chao’s negligence on mine safety, her hometown paper decided to speak up. The paper is rightly furious: Elaine Chao’s negligence is inexcusable. (The editorial’s last sentence is the best.)
Why the delay? Yes, there’s a shortage of required equipment. But also, coal operators say they can’t get a straight answer from the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration about what should be in their emergency response plans. But, the Government Accountability Office says enforcement of more than 350 citations written since 2006 by MSHA, for unsafe practices and conditions, varies widely.
What seems to be happening is that George W. Bush’s coal regulators, working under Labor Secretary Elaine Chao of Kentucky, are marking time until they get marching orders from the next administration.
If coal miners and their advocates, as opposed to coal industry givers, were part of Sen. Mitch McConnell’s re-election money machine, you might see some action.
Republicans like Big Coal. Their party took some $2 million from the mining industry in the 2006 election cycle alone. And Sen. McConnell objects to any suggestion that there’s something wrong with that.
Easy for Mr. McConnell and Ms. Chao to say. They don’t have to make a living in needlessly dangerous holes in the ground.
