The bright spot is that 2 miners were pulled from the mine immediately after the explosion. One has been discharged from the hospital and has requested privacy. His fellow coal miners and the community will make sure that the media is kept far away. The other is still in the hospital in critical condition as of yesterday. The family is also requesting privacy.
If you want to help coal miners the questions that need to be asked now are what violations are happening in other mines that aren't actually being addressed.
The media will focus entirely on the Upper Big Creek Mine for another week or so. The politicians will write new laws. The inspectors will inspect and the miners will mine - in spite of what is wrong in the mine because they must provide for their families and they know it they say anything they will be fired and another will be there to take their place.
That is the cycle. That is why they need the UMWA. Union mines don't tolerate the kind of infractions that are common place now. That is a whole another arguement that I don't want to get into right now though.
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