zappasguitar
Well-known member
...at least those human beings rich enough to donate to Paul's campaign.
The workers actually working IN the mines?
Not so much...
WASHINGTON -- With American miners still succumbing to black lung disease, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has proposed a plan to reduce the number of such deaths through the stricter regulation of mining sites. But at a congressional committee meeting last week, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) voiced concern that the new regulations may not be worth the cost to coal companies -- even though pockets of his state have been designated black lung “hot spots” by the federal government.
In a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee, Paul also asserted that the number of black lung cases has been on the decline. But according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), in recent years such incidences have in fact been on the rise in certain areas of coal country.
"Every regulation doesn't save lives," Paul said in the hearing, later adding that the regulations so far have done a “pretty good job” of reducing black lung. "There is a point or a balancing act between when a regulation becomes burdensome enough that our energy production is stifled. We have to assess the costs of regulation and whether they save lives."
Paul’s comments didn’t escape the notice of mining safety advocates.
“I thought it was outrageous,” said Stephen Sanders, director of the Appalachian Citizens' Law Center, a Kentucky-based non-profit that supports black lung prevention regulations and other mine safety causes. “What he’s suggesting is to keep the cost of coal down we would jeopardize the health of coal miners.”
“He has no knowledge of coal mining, no knowledge of mine safety or health issues,” Tony Oppegard, a Kentucky attorney who’s represented miners, said of Paul.
Miners develop black lung disease, or coal worker’s pneumoconiosis, by breathing in tiny coal dust particles over the course of years, and often decades, of mining. MSHA’s proposals would cut in half a worker’s allowable exposure to these particles, from two milligrams per cubic meter of air to one –- a stipulation that could change the way some operators ventilate mineshafts and treat the air miners breath.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/07/rand-paul-black-lung-big-coal_n_845840.html
The workers actually working IN the mines?
Not so much...
WASHINGTON -- With American miners still succumbing to black lung disease, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has proposed a plan to reduce the number of such deaths through the stricter regulation of mining sites. But at a congressional committee meeting last week, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) voiced concern that the new regulations may not be worth the cost to coal companies -- even though pockets of his state have been designated black lung “hot spots” by the federal government.
In a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee, Paul also asserted that the number of black lung cases has been on the decline. But according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), in recent years such incidences have in fact been on the rise in certain areas of coal country.
"Every regulation doesn't save lives," Paul said in the hearing, later adding that the regulations so far have done a “pretty good job” of reducing black lung. "There is a point or a balancing act between when a regulation becomes burdensome enough that our energy production is stifled. We have to assess the costs of regulation and whether they save lives."
Paul’s comments didn’t escape the notice of mining safety advocates.
“I thought it was outrageous,” said Stephen Sanders, director of the Appalachian Citizens' Law Center, a Kentucky-based non-profit that supports black lung prevention regulations and other mine safety causes. “What he’s suggesting is to keep the cost of coal down we would jeopardize the health of coal miners.”
“He has no knowledge of coal mining, no knowledge of mine safety or health issues,” Tony Oppegard, a Kentucky attorney who’s represented miners, said of Paul.
Miners develop black lung disease, or coal worker’s pneumoconiosis, by breathing in tiny coal dust particles over the course of years, and often decades, of mining. MSHA’s proposals would cut in half a worker’s allowable exposure to these particles, from two milligrams per cubic meter of air to one –- a stipulation that could change the way some operators ventilate mineshafts and treat the air miners breath.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/07/rand-paul-black-lung-big-coal_n_845840.html
