INSTITUTE INDEX: Did Massey miners die in vain?
Number of men killed a year ago this week in an explosion at Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch mine in Raleigh County, W.Va.: 29
Year in which Congress passed a landmark mine safety law in response to a mine explosion in Fairmont, W.Va. that killed 78 miners: 1969
Year in which Congress passed another mine safety law following explosions in a Kentucky mine that killed 26 miners: 1976
Year in which Congress passed a law designed to help keep trapped miners alive in the wake of a series of disasters including one that killed 12 West Virginia miners: 2006
Number of new mine safety laws passed by Congress since the Upper Big Branch disaster: 0
Number of citations, orders and safeguards issued by regulators to Upper Big Branch in the year before the disaster there: 515
Percent by which that number exceeded the national average for a mine: 176
Date on which Congressman George Miller (D-Calif.) sought to suspend House rules and pass the Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act, which targets mines with a pattern of violations: 12/8/2010
The vote on Miller's proposal, which fell far short of the two-thirds needed to suspend the rules: 214-193
Number of House Republicans who voted to bring up the bill: 1
Date on which Miller gave a floor speech in which he blamed the "pay-to-play nature of our politics" for Congress' failure to act on mine safety: 4/5/2011
Amount donated to federal political candidates from 1990 until the time of the Upper Big Branch disaster by Massey associates and the company's political action committee: $307,000
Percentage of that amount that went to Republicans: 91
Increase in the mining industry's spending on federal lobbying efforts from 2004 to 2008: more than 300 percent
Amount the industry spent on federal lobbying the year before the Massey disaster: $26 million
(Click on figure to go to source.)
Year in which Congress passed a landmark mine safety law in response to a mine explosion in Fairmont, W.Va. that killed 78 miners: 1969
Year in which Congress passed another mine safety law following explosions in a Kentucky mine that killed 26 miners: 1976
Year in which Congress passed a law designed to help keep trapped miners alive in the wake of a series of disasters including one that killed 12 West Virginia miners: 2006
Number of new mine safety laws passed by Congress since the Upper Big Branch disaster: 0
Number of citations, orders and safeguards issued by regulators to Upper Big Branch in the year before the disaster there: 515
Percent by which that number exceeded the national average for a mine: 176
Date on which Congressman George Miller (D-Calif.) sought to suspend House rules and pass the Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act, which targets mines with a pattern of violations: 12/8/2010
The vote on Miller's proposal, which fell far short of the two-thirds needed to suspend the rules: 214-193
Number of House Republicans who voted to bring up the bill: 1
Date on which Miller gave a floor speech in which he blamed the "pay-to-play nature of our politics" for Congress' failure to act on mine safety: 4/5/2011
Amount donated to federal political candidates from 1990 until the time of the Upper Big Branch disaster by Massey associates and the company's political action committee: $307,000
Percentage of that amount that went to Republicans: 91
Increase in the mining industry's spending on federal lobbying efforts from 2004 to 2008: more than 300 percent
Amount the industry spent on federal lobbying the year before the Massey disaster: $26 million
(Click on figure to go to source.)
Tags
Sue Sturgis
Sue is the editorial director of Facing South and the Institute for Southern Studies.