The Deaths of 12 West Virginia Coal Miners

This week's slow torcherous deaths of 12 West Virginia coal miners trapped and unable to be rescued 2 miles (1300 feet) into the earth ~ should give us pause to reflect on the fact that hard working coal mining families have to risk their lives to give us energy derived from coal which is a dirty, non-renewable and potentially deadly source for energy. We have to come past this archaic way of fueling power that endangers the health and lives of dedicated workers and which is also a component that adds to the pollution of our environment.

Earlier in American history there was little choice. But, today it is different. The senseless loss of life, generation after generation, for coal does not have to go on forever, anymore. The clean, renewable, safe, above-ground energies of wind and solar are readily available to become major fueling sources as soon as we wish to make it so.

My heart goes out to the coal miners in West Virginia and coal miners and their families everywhere.