NYT editorial: An Insult to Their Memory
Just eight months after the nation was shocked by the death of 29 coal miners in the Upper Big Branch explosion in West Virginia, Republicans have once again pandered to industry and blocked passage of an urgently needed mine safety reform.
In April’s grief — and the anger over revelations of the mine owner’s shoddy safety record — there were grand bipartisan vows to take action. A very worthy safety measure in the House drew majority support from Democrats but fell short of the two-thirds needed under expedited rules in the lame-duck session.
Republicans predictably shielded mine owners, citing warnings from the National Association of Manufacturers that the reform might drive up coal prices by expanding government authority and exposing mining companies to greater criminal penalties and damage litigation. That is exactly what this perilously dangerous industry needs. Too many lives have already been lost for the sake of cheap coal.
The failure was even more egregious in the Senate, where strong reform proposals never saw the heat of debate as the Republican minority wielded its brute dogma of filibustering.
(Original here.)
In April’s grief — and the anger over revelations of the mine owner’s shoddy safety record — there were grand bipartisan vows to take action. A very worthy safety measure in the House drew majority support from Democrats but fell short of the two-thirds needed under expedited rules in the lame-duck session.
Republicans predictably shielded mine owners, citing warnings from the National Association of Manufacturers that the reform might drive up coal prices by expanding government authority and exposing mining companies to greater criminal penalties and damage litigation. That is exactly what this perilously dangerous industry needs. Too many lives have already been lost for the sake of cheap coal.
The failure was even more egregious in the Senate, where strong reform proposals never saw the heat of debate as the Republican minority wielded its brute dogma of filibustering.
(Original here.)
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1 Comments:
How much of the blame for this goes to the Democrats for pushing this revised bill that required 2/3 majority to pass instead of the bill approved by the House Education and Labor Committee ? One of the most contentious provisions of the original bill — language expanding safety protections at all work sites, not just mines — was removed this week in hopes the slimmed down proposal would attract more GOP support. It didn't. That said, even if the House bill had been approved it was destined to die in the Senate.
I wrote a commentary on MN Political Roundtable noting that the besides the potential to save lives by requiring mines to take extra steps to prevent explosions, the CBO projected that it would save $115 million … as it would raise penalties “for mine operators who knowingly tamper with or disable safety equipment that could kill miners.” Further, it would try to fix the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s broken Pattern of Violations (POV) program. Currently, there are huge backlogs (like 19,000 cases) as the companies use delaying tactics to keep the mines producing.
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