Underground: Mining, Sago, and Death by Greed

I’ve made little secret of the fact that I work in the coal industry. As a result, several people have asked me for my thoughts on what happened at the Sago Mine earlier this week. Thing is… I’m not sure I have all that many thoughts. Or maybe it’s that I have too much of the same thought.

Even for those who only watched the tragedy as it unfolded, it was hard not to feel emotionally drained. For the families involved, it is so much worse. Betrayed and emotionally battered, they suffered two days of nail-biting tension, were raised to the heights on a cloud of emotional release, and then dashed down onto the rocks in an instant of all too public despair.
In one moment, their hopes, dreams, and sweet relief, were turned to bitter dust. Watching these people being ripped apart under the unflinching glare of the news channels was sickening. Knowing that their relatives died because of men who lied and tried to cheat safety regulations is maddening.

Knowing that this was utterly predictable, and that it could have all been prevented is infuriating.

DailyKos