It doesn’t look good for rescuing the miners. Pray for their famillies.
The mine is owned by Murray Energy Corp. The controversy over the mine collapse is what caused it. Murray is all over the news saying that it was an earthquake, which I guess would suggest it wasn’t Murray’s fault. It may take some time to sort that one out. But there is always that lingering perception that many mines are simply unsafe, due to poor enforcement of mining laws and inspections.
Bob Murray, the CEO of this family owned coal producer, testified before the Ways and Means Committee in 2001. He was asking Congress, on behalf of the coal industry, for tax cuts and incentives to increase coal production, such as decreasing environmental restrictions.
Bob doesn’t like Al Gore. On CNN he called Gore “the shaman of global doom and gloom.”
It appears that wages in the mining industry are better than they used to be in shirt factories in South Georgia. Looks like upper management makes about $44 an hour and the guy in the shaft is putting his life on the line for abouit $18 an hour. Not one of the top 10 blue collar jobs.
In the 2006 cycle Murray Energy contributed $97,400 to politicians, all of them Republican. Strange, but in the 2006 cycle GA Sen. Isakson was the largest recipient of Murray largesse topping the scales at $10,000.00.
The National Mining Association keeps tabs on all the state and federal politicians to see who votes in favor of mining issues. I am not aware of that much mining going on in Georgia, but believe it or not, Sen. Chambliss has voted with the NMA 100% of the time. Sen. Isakson has only voted once against an NMA position.
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