Drill Baby Drill?

The explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig about 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana is another reminder of the high environmental cost of oil, the necessity for stronger safety and environmental regulation, and the utility of having a "big government" agency like NOAA to help with monitoring and cleanup which has been delayed due to bad weather. Seven Deepwater Horizon workers were severely injured and eleven are missing and have been presumed dead - but what about their families?

Well-paid petroleum evangelists assure us that this is just the cost we must bear for plentiful energy - drill baby drill.

Blankenship and the Big Branch Bonanza

During a tour I took of the Quincy Copper Mine on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the tour guide told about how early miners worked by hand without power tools. Miners worked in teams with picks and shovels, or one holding the "bit" while the other swung a sledgehammer with only a candle for lighting - a candle they had to provide for themselves because the mine owner wanted to save on expenses.

Intellectually I had "known" that mining was grueling, difficult work but these details awakened me to the superhuman efforts and history of danger that miners have faced across the US. A look at West Virginia mining history reveals that it wasn't until FDR's administration and increased government oversight that miners began to get any significant legal protections. The recent tragedy at the Big Branch mine in WV is the latest example of the short-sighted profits-over-people mentality of laissez-faire capitalism.

Safety has long been a problem at this mine, though Don Blankenship would argue otherwise. When approached by a reporter  Blankenship, CEO of Massey Energy, became a bit of a bully, so I felt inspired to engage in a little photographic editorializing with GIMP the free image manipulation software. I thought perhaps I could offer my commentary in a different form this time....
(click images to enlarge)