{"id":524932,"date":"2010-04-12T16:14:36","date_gmt":"2010-04-12T20:14:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/climateprogress.org\/?p=22870"},"modified":"2010-04-12T16:14:36","modified_gmt":"2010-04-12T20:14:36","slug":"don-blankenship-called-safety-regulators-%e2%80%9cas-silly-as-global-warming%e2%80%9d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/524932","title":{"rendered":"Don Blankenship called safety regulators \u201cas silly as global warming\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

The death toll from Massey Energy\u2019s Upper Big Branch mine explosion last week has reached a total of 29 miners, the worst coal disaster in 40 years<\/a>.\u00a0 The reckless CEO behind the disaster — Don Blankenship — cares more about his anti-science crusade than he does about the safety of its employees, as Brad Johnson explains in this repost<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/span>The death toll from Massey Energy\u2019s Upper Big Branch mine explosion last week has reached a total of 29 miners, the worst coal disaster in 40 years<\/a>. When the disaster occurred, Massey was contesting millions of dollars in major safety violations<\/a> levied against the mine. At his Labor Day anti-union rally last year, Massey CEO Don Blankenship attacked the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), claiming it \u201cseeks power over coal miners.\u201d He mocked both \u201cWashington politicians\u201d and local elected officials who attempt to ensure miner safety, calling their efforts \u201cas silly as global warming\u201d:<\/p>\n

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We also endure a Mine Safety and Health Administration that seeks power over coal miners<\/strong> versus improving their safety and their health. As someone who has overseen the mining of more coal than anyone else in the history of central Appalachia, I know that the safety and health of coal miners is my most important job. I don\u2019t need Washington politicians to tell me that, and neither do you. But I also know \u2014 I also know Washington and state politicians have no idea how to improve miner safety. The very idea that they care more about coal miner safety than we do is as silly as global warming<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Don Blankenship \u2014 who uses his position on the boards of the National Mining Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to promote his conspiracy theories about global warming \u2014 said he spent one million dollars to put together the \u201cFriends of America\u201d right-wing rally and rock concert in Holden, WV on September 7, 2009, which starred Ted Nugent, Hank Williams, Jr., and Fox News host Sean Hannity. In 2009, Blankenship also complained that \u201cpoliticians get emotional\u201d about disasters and establish \u201cnonsensical\u201d safety rules.<\/p>\n

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