Greedy Rich People Killing the Poor, Republicans at Work

If anybody has any lingering doubts about the abiding evilness of Republican party politics in this country, this should put them to rest. Several weeks ago there was a tragic mine cave-in, at a coal mine in Utah. During the immediate aftermath, as rescue efforts were being organized, the owner of the mine went before the assembled press and went on a rant about this tragic event being the result of an earthquake and not negligent mining practices and specifically one practice, known as retreat mining. He lambasted the liberal media for assuming the culpability of greedy management in the cave-in, when it was simply an act of God. The problem with this was, nobody, in the liberal media or otherwise, had brought up the subject of retreat mining or negligence.

A common way of shoring up the chambers in a deep mine operation, once the mined material has been removed, is to leave pillars of the substrata in place, to support the ceiling. Once all of the valuable substance has been removed and no more excavation is planned, these pillars, which are, of course, composed of the valuable substance, are blown out and recovered. Once this is done, the chamber, no longer supported, collapses. The trick is not to have it collapse on the miners removing the last of the mined substance. Turns out, retreat mining is not an illegal practice. Turns out, it's quite common. Turns out, miners will do it if you pay them enough. Turns out, mine operators are willing to pay them enough. Voila, the free market economy in action.

The day after the unfortunate news conference, the mine owner appeared, bolstered by the presence, by his side, of his old friends, the senior Senator from Utah and the Governor of the State, both Republicans. They all reassured the families and press that everything that could be done to rescue the trapped miners, would be done. No more mention was made of the factors which may have contributed to the collapse of the mine.

I suspect the reason that retreat mining is not illegal is that no one, outside the mining industry, believes anyone would be stupid enough or greedy enough to do it. This kind of thinking is always a mistake. As far as I know, there are no bills pendind to limit or control retreat mining.