Coming clean

Readers weigh the merits of alternative energy sources versus coal

How do miners still die with black lung?

IN THE early 1920s, my grandfather came to the United States from Hungary. Right off the boat, he and other immigrants were sent to work in the coal mines in Daisytown, Pa. It was a company-owned town. The miners and their families were assigned shabby wood structures to live in. The company store was the only one for them to use. Rent for the shacks and anything purchased in the store came out of the paycheck, which was a pittance to begin with. The miners and their families were held hostage in the poor house.

The miners worked in menacing, dangerous conditions. Safety measures were not factored in. The goal of the coal companies was to make money for the company, the workers be damned — they were considered chattel. My grandfather died with black lung.

Black lung is a term used to describe the results of breathing in toxic coal dust, which leaves the lung black instead of pink. A healthy lung has macrophages which work to ingest bacteria and foreign material. When coal dust is inhaled, the macrophages develop into coal nodules. There is no cure. People are left coughing in pain and gasping for air before they die.

In 2014, The American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine released findings by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, indicating black lung disease rates have “skyrocketed to the highest levels since the 1970s.”

Since my grandfather’s time, I assumed that safety measures would have been in place and that black lung was factored out of the coal mining business. However, miners are still breathing in debilitating toxic coal dust and are still dying with black lung. Coal companies have not had oversight or regulations to force them to factor miners’ health and safety into the work environment.

The recent announcement that coal company regulations have been decreased allows for further exploitation of miners. Decreased regulations equal decreased health and safety for miners.

The No. 1 source of carbon dioxide comes from coal burning. The primary cause of global warming is the increase of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere.

The importance of deregulation has been marketed as a way to increase jobs. Fossil fuel companies have stifled development in solar and wind energy. The jobs created in solar and wind would not only provide decent humane work, they would decrease carbon dioxide emissions. The billionaire fossil fuel companies might only make millions with the switch.

From my perspective, we live in the time of sadistic indifference, lies and white collar crimes. MARCIA MCCANN Albuquerque