Writing in the Charleston (WVA) Gazette, has a Memorial Day message directed towards the over 100,000 miners who have lost their lives in our history to keep our lights running: “A few years ago, my family’s 200-year-old homestead and hollow in southern Illinois was destroyed by strip mining. Two hundred years of history now lie in a black amphitheater of death. Every time I flick on the light switch, I think of the explosions ripping our heritage from its roots. I think of the lives that the explosions have taken with them. I think of my coal-mining grandfather, who loved the land he tended as a steward, sitting in the darkness after his cave-in. I wonder who is next, either from failed safety laws or flooding or governmental and company neglect, and indifference by citizens.

As our nation comes to grips with our energy needs and mining realities, it needs to come up to the mountain and become part of this mining process. If Washington, D.C., won’t come to the mountain, then the mountain needs to go to Washington, D.C. ”

Light Switch