Now is the time

"In all, the Bush administration abandoned or delayed implementation of 18 proposed safety rules that were in the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration's regulatory pipeline," reports Joby Warick of The Washington Post. But there are signs that the folks at MSHA are feeling guilty. A couple of the mothballed proposals, including mandatory caches of oxygen tanks and breathing masks and expanding the number of rescue teams seem to have been put on the fast track for approval. MSHA also, reports the Charleston Gazette, recently intervened before a federal judge on behalf of having the United Mineworkers participate in safety hearings, a matter about which they had previously been less than enthusiastic.

This is the time for mine safety advocates to strike. Not only are MSHA officials feeling guilty, so are members of Congress. One state legislature, West Virginia's, has already enacted new safety requirements.

Another reason the time is ripe for reform is that the coal industry is booming. With oil and natural gas prices sky high, "the fuel of the future is coal," reports a Wall Street newsletter. This is important because many times in the past, mine owners have been able to plead hardship, saying that business was bad and that they could not afford safety measures. Sometimes even the mineworkers themselves would go along, fearing they'd lose their jobs if the expense of safety requirements caused a mine to close. Now that the mine owners have no such excuse, the moment for reform is here.

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