On January 2, 2006, a coal mine near Sago, West Virginia exploded. Thirteen miners were trapped inside and only one of those survived the two days it took to get the miners out. Yet another example of
On September 30, 1899, Mary “Mother” Jones organized the wives and daughters of striking coal miners in Arnot, Pennsylvania to descend on the mine and intimidate the scabs working there. T
On August 29, 1933, the National Miners Union shut down mines in Gallup, New Mexico. This labor action, which in many ways pitted Mexican miners against Navajo miners, demonstrates the racial complexi
This is such a weird story. Mountaintop removal is a horrible, nasty, awful thing, one that reshapes an entire region’s geology, some of the oldest mountains in the world, and dumps toxins in th
On October 12, 1898, a racialized battle over strikebreaking broke out in the southern Illinois coal mining town of Virden, Illinois. The so-called Battle of Virden demonstrates the ways that employer
Donald Trump may get the love of West Virginians, but there’s not too much he can do about the fact that coal is increasingly just not worth turning into power. When the Navajo Generating Statio
On April 18, 1912, coal miners along Paint Creek and Cabin Creek in West Virginia went on strike to protest the terrible conditions of their lives. This event served as the beginning of the West Virgi
A true populist is in the White House: In 15 days, the coal industry will receive a late Christmas gift. The federal government is scheduled to reduce an excise tax on coal production by 55 percent on