Winds of Change Newsletter, February 2006     See sidebar for table of contents

The Toll from Coal

…When the fate of the West Virginia miners was still unknown, a commentator on national TV lamented that technology has yet to transform coal mining into something less primitive than men burrowing underground.

He apparently didn’t realize that technology has transformed coal mining. While this change may save lives, it has come at a high cost to the environment. The new mining technology finds its ultimate expression in mountaintop removal.

The pollution produced by burning coal for electricity also takes a toll on the environment and human life.

The nation’s heart went out to the families of the trapped miners; we all mourn their loss.

But life has always been cheap in the coalfields. As long as coal’s main asset is its cheapness, the industry will cut safety corners to save a buck.

And life will remain cheap in the coalfields as long as our nation’s main energy policy is to consume nonrenewable fossil fuels as wastefully and quickly as we possibly can.

-Lexington Herald-Leader, Jan. 6, 2006

Donations for the Miners

The West Virginia Council of Churches is collecting donations for the families of miners who perished in the Sago and Melville (Aracoma) mines. Send checks to the West Virginia Council of Churches, 2207 Washington St. East, Charleston, WV, 25311. Checks for the Sago miner families should be made out to the Sago Mine Assistance Fund. Checks for the Melville families should be sent to the Melville Mine Assistance Fund at the same address.