i've traveled extensively in the mining areas for my job. you must understand that the people who live and work there defend the mine operators with their very lives. they'll argue with you for awhile and then tell you to just 'shut up, you don't understand'. if a well intentioned NGO goes into the region to try to make it safe for the workforce they will get in their faces and tell them to go home. it has happened to me, repeatedly.

it's about their willingness to have 'jobs, jobs, jobs' at any cost and this cannot be argued with.
how do you combat this?

i've traveled extensively in the mining areas for my job. you must understand that the people who live and work there defend the mine operators with their very lives. they'll argue with you for awhile and then tell you to just 'shut up, you don't understand'. if a well intentioned NGO goes into the region to try to make it safe for the workforce they will get in their faces and tell them to go home. it has happened to me, repeatedly.

it's about their willingness to have 'jobs, jobs, jobs' at any cost and this cannot be argued with.
how do you combat this?

Why are we still sending humans down into coal mines? Robots build our cars and disarm bombs. Why haven't we converted most, if not all, mine activities to robot activities that would be operated remotely by operators on the surface. It appears that we are mining coal today in much the same way we mined coal a hundred years ago. I do not understand why we continue to place precious human beings at risk when I suspect there are alternatives.

We've known for over 20 years that we must upgrade to alternative clean and renewable energy technologies and we continue to stall.
Let's get on with it! Let's satisfy our energy needs without sacrificing our environment and our loved ones. We can do this! We owe it to our children.

Electricity derived from coal (even the so-called "clean coal" which terribly pollutes the water) is one of our biggest problems in combating global warming. This tragedy is just another sign that we need to push these energy corporations to pursue and invest in green technologies. This would provide safer jobs above ground, and a viable future for our children.

When are mine owners going to be jailed one year for every violation they ignored. Hit them where it hurts MAKE THEM POOR and incarcerated

John,

Please stop asking such stupid and distasteful questions of Ms. Weir! I typically like your show but these are real ambulance chaser questions.

"How do you feel?" Of course you're distraught when you're waiting to hear about the fate of a loved one. I don't need your program to remind me of that.

A discussion of mine safety and the conditions that caused this accident would be far more informative.

dont hate the player - wether its our governments that regulate the industry, the company that determines its practices or the employee who has to make a living - hate the game. our nation wants cheap fule for driving industry, this includes coal. from oil to coal to heavy water left from nuclear reactions; many, many uses of natural resources result in a great cost to us collectively regarding our environment and us individually in regard to these sort of health and public safety risks. we as a civilisation are not very civilized when you consider 'green' alternatives at our disposal are essentially untapped and what is left is a bygone industry fledgling for financial viability cutting cost to increase profit but in the end gambling on the lives of its employees.