Mining companies have played an outsized role in Chile for a long time. Bitterness at foreign mining corporations helped bring Salvador Allende to power in 1970. Defending mining interests helped spur CIA support for Augusto Pinochet’s coup in 1973. Little has changed. Today, mining corporations are using so much water that supplies are threatened for […]
Tag: mining
Mike Elk has a very disturbing story about Patriot Coal, a spinoff of industry giant Peabody Coal, going to bankruptcy court to divest itself of the pension and healthcare obligations guaranteed to wo
Who are the real friends of coal miners? Like in the timber wars of the 1980s, an exploitative industry and its lackey politicians have claimed that the industry looks out for the miners against those
When you let a mining company do whatever it wants with limited regulations, it turns out that horrible things can happen, like gigantic sinkholes that destroy people’s homes and make large amounts of land unlivable. What’s hilarious is Bobby Jindal’s fake outrage and demands that the companies pay up. A less hypocritical politician of the […]
On February 7, 1894, gold miners near Cripple Creek, Colorado walked off the job, leading to one of the biggest victories for organized labor in the Gilded Age after the state of Colorado intervened o
Coal mine baron and Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship, owner of the Upper Big Branch mine where 29 miners were killed in an explosion in 2010, shares his thoughts on mine safety. Understand that Blank
Thought it was worth darkening your day by pointing you to this handy online calendar of mine disasters in American history. See how many miners were killed on the birthdays of you and your loved ones!
My new favorite post-election reaction goes to Robert E. Murray, CEO of Murray Energy. He sent this prayer to America out to his workers, followed by his view of the nation’s future: Dear Lord:
Jay Rockefeller deserves major kudos for finally calling out the coal industry for lying to workers and the state that the EPA and environmentalists are costing coal jobs: This EPA rule – two decade
Eric Lipton’s feature on the decline of coal in Kentucky is interesting, though flawed. He tells a heartbreaking story for these coal miners, helping us understand just how deeply people in eastern Kentucky believe in coal. Even if other economic opportunities appeared in the region, a lot of people just don’t want to imagine a […]
On this date 92 years ago, the Matewan Massacre took place in the small town of Matewan, West Virginia. In January 1920, the United Mine Workers of America had a new president: John L. Lewis. Lewis, w
A couple of weeks ago, I slammed United Mine Workers President Cecil Roberts for attacking the Environmental Protection Agency. I have a piece up at Alternet exploring this issue in greater detail. An