President Obama says we need more than prayers to protect coal miners, we need action. He’s right. Unfortunately, he’s also wrong.

Specifically, he’s wrong about clean coal. This amazingly durable boondoggle has been a buzzword for “free money” to interest groups and “jobs” to unions and workers in the coal states. States where presidential elections have been won or lost the past two decades; Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia and Montana (the latter two were closer than you might think in the last election). The one thing clean coal definitely isn’t, however, is good for coal miners.

Coal mining is one of the most dangerous, dirty, unhealthy jobs on the planet. Thousands of people die around the world every year in coal mining accidents. Admittedly, most of those deaths are in China, which has 19th century worker protection. Continue reading “Save Coal Miners: Just Say No to Coal Power.”