crossposted from
unbossed
So what else is news. Had this report - on how the Bush Administration has undermined safety in our mines - been issued a couple months ago, it would receive no public notice. After all, there are so many ways the Administration has failed us - both by omission and commission - it is hard to keep up the outrage.
But maybe now, after Sago, Aracoma Alma, and subsequent mine disasters and disasters to be, after the loss of life and misery was spread out before us, just maybe this one can get some attention. Sago and Aracoma Alma were not accidents. So reset your outrage-O-meter and read on.
From the report introduction here are the findings, separated for easier reading into bullet points:
This report documents a very troubling track record by the Bush Administration and the Department of Labor in protecting the health and safety of tens of thousands of hard-working American miners.
The Bush Administration has stacked the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC) with mining industry insiders.
The Administration has sought budget cuts and staff reductions at the enforcement agency.
It has rolled back proposed safety and health regulations, while implementing industry-favored changes.
It has significantly reduced the amount of major fines for mine safety and health violations, compared to the previous administration.
And even while it has operated with little to no oversight from the Congress, MSHA has adopted the Bush Administration's penchant for secrecy, refusing to fill Freedom of Information Act requests which had been routinely filled in the past.
In the meantime, MSHA has also failed to ensure that the industry keeps pace with existing mine safety technologies, such as electronic tracking and communication devices and reserve oxygen chambers that could have saved lives at the Sago and Aracoma Alma mines.
The report goes on to provide details to back each of these findings. I know there's so much going on these days, so much to be outraged about, but take the time to click HERE and read the report. It's an easy read, well, not if you have a heart, and it lays out the path that led to these deaths.
George Miller and where we go from here
We need to thank you Rep. George Miller for this and other service to the citizens of this country. Miller home page here.
George Miller has been demanding that the Republicans, who control the Education and Workforce Committee, take action. <crickets>
With the release of this report, Miller once again demands that Rep. John Boehner fulfill his duties:
Miller renewed his call, first made on January 4, for Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), the Chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee, to convene immediate hearings into the cause of the disasters at the Sago and Alma mines. Miller said that MSHA, in light of its troubling track record on oversight and enforcement issues, cannot be trusted to investigate itself. He said that a Congressional investigation is urgently needed to learn what actions must be taken to prevent future tragedies.
"Only Congress can properly review these tragedies. There is absolutely no legitimate excuse for the key committee in Congress to simply ignore this issue. Chairman Boehner should not allow another day to pass without calling hearings," said Miller.
The report recommends that MSHA immediately return to a focus on enforcing the law - rather than focusing on "compliance assistance" even when mine operators routinely violate the law. It also says that MSHA should immediately ensure that all miners have life-saving equipment and technology that is already in use overseas and in some U.S. mines.
President Bush is likely to address the issue of mine safety in his State of the Union speech tonight and Miller warned that, based on the findings of this new report, "The public and the press should approach the President's rhetoric on mine safety with extreme caution."
But Boehner has other priorities. Link here.