ENVIRONMENT — DESPITE THOUSANDS OF SAFETY VIOLATIONS, MASSEY CEO DON BLANKENSHIP CLAIMS THAT HE ‘NEVER’ PUTS PROFITS ABOVE SAFETY: In his first Capitol Hill appearance since the Upper Big Branch mine explosion last month, Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship told a Senate committee yesterday that “we never have, and never will” put profits above safety in any of his company’s mines. “From the day I became a member of Massey’s leadership team 20 years ago, I have made safety my number one priority,” Blankenship said. But the truth is that Blankenship’s Big Branch mine alone was “cited for safety violations 515 times in 2009 and 124 times in 2010 before the blast,” citations which Assistant Secretary of Labor Joseph Main said were “not only more numerous than average, but also more serious.” The Big Branch violations are part of Massey’s long record of egregious environmental and health violations. In 2000, a Massey subsidiary was responsible for what was at that time the “nation’s largest man-made environmental disaster east of the Mississippi.” In 2007, the EPA sued Massey for violating the Clean Water Act “more than 4,500 times from the beginning of 2000 to the end of 2006.” And in 2006, Massey’s Aracoma Coal Co. pled “guilty to 10 criminal charges, including one felony, and pay $2.5 million in criminal fines” after two workers died in a fire at the Aracoma Alma No. 1 Mine in Melville, West Virginia. Massey failed to notify authorities of the fire until two hours after the disaster, and Blankenship later called the incident “statistically insignificant.” Though the company has been charged with tens of thousands of violations (10,653 in 2009), Massey continues to escape full responsibility by constantly appealing the penalties, and by leveraging connections with former employees of Blankenship who had been placed at the highest levels of the federal mine safety system. Blankenship’s attitude toward worker safety is best embodied in a memo he sent to mine superintendents just two months before the Aracoma fire. “If any of you have been asked by your group presidents, your supervisors, engineers or anyone else to do anything other than run coal (i.e. build overcasts, do construction jobs, or whatever),” he wrote, “you need to ignore them and run coal. This memo is necessary only because we seem not to understand that the coal pays the bills.”
Tag Archives: vote
#FF Congress …
The Senate will Convene at 2:00p.mET May 24, 2010
There will be a period of morning business until 3:00 p.m. with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.
At 3:00 p.m., the Senate will proceed to the consideration of H.R. 4899, the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill.
At approximately 5:30 p.m., the Senate will proceed to a series of 2 roll call votes. Those votes will be in relation to the Brownback and Hutchison motions to instruct conferees with respect to Wall Street Reform.
*******************************************************************
| CURRENT HOUSE FLOOR PROCEEDINGS LEGISLATIVE DAY OF MAY 21, 2010 111TH CONGRESS – SECOND SESSION
|
Share this:
OFA … Will you co-sign with us?
Kentucky Republican Rand Paul was born a year before the Civil Rights Act was enacted, but in the past few days, he’s said repeatedly that he opposes key pieces of the law.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was an unambiguous victory in the struggle for equality in the United States. In a single moment, legal segregation in schools and public places came to an end.
But, again and again, in interviews with local press, NPR, and Rachel Maddow, Paul has said that he doesn’t support the law as it was written. He believes that businesses should have the right to discriminate based on race, gender, disability, or any other factor. When asked about whether or not he supports desegregating lunch counters, Paul couldn’t even answer yes or no.
Rand Paul needs to know that his position is unacceptable, and it will take a massive public outcry for him to feel the political consequences. Help us send a message — sign our letter to Rand Paul today.
If you think it’s ridiculous that we’re still debating the merits of the Civil Rights Act today — 46 years after the fact — you’re correct.
But political views like this are exactly why Rand Paul has become a champion for the extreme wing of his party. If he is elected, he will be their voice in the Senate — taking up their plans to roll back all the changes that we’ve worked so hard to achieve and undermine the accomplishments of those who came before us.
It’s time that Rand Paul heard from people who aren’t ring-wing extremists. We’ve written an open letter to Paul to make it clear that his views have no place in 2010. Will you co-sign with us?
http://ky.barackobama.com/RandPaul
Thank you,
Jim
Jim Glenn
Kentucky State Director
Organizing for America
Share this:
Pop Quiz …
Pop quiz: Who should pay the bill for the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico?
A) Oil companies*
B) Taxpayers
*Clicking here will add your name to this petition: “Oil companies, not taxpayers, should pay for oil spill damages. Congress should get rid of the limits on oil spill liability.”
Thanks for all you do.
–Steven, Kat, Adam, Ilya, and the rest of the team
Share this:
TGIF and some News …
Today, is National Bike to Work day, the 30th anniversary of Pac-Man and Star Wars is being celebrated as well.
The President has another win under his belt, Financial Reform, the biggest overhaul since the 30’s; though some feel the efforts to reform any and all parts of our govt just haven’t gone far enough. He also signed a Fuel efficiency Plan.
Why is Congress afraid of real Reform… Most of us know, not all of us practice it … all things in moderation … in some cases everything will balance itself out … It seems like our Politicians on the Hill are applying this concept to our Reform Bills and though it’s a start; moderation in reforming a system that took us down makes you wonder if the dirty little secret is that money still talks and ultimately controls the votes .
I want to know… where is the will, courage and power, which, the Democratic Party has but seems to fear. The Democratic Party of Yes We Can… have the power to make Health-Care , Wall Street/Bank/Aig, Climate Change, and Immigration Reform Bills stronger, they need to move stricter reform forward. The President and Congress have done great things to create a foundation for Reform and though it’s a start; the key statement from the White House … it’s a start. The hope is for stricter rules, regulations and policies when the House and Senate go into conference and as the President stated the final legislation will be “effective and responsive” .
The bill would have to be merged in conference with one passed by the House of Representatives in December. The Senate could move to final passage as soon as Thursday night, but Friday looks more likely. “That would then set the stage for a House-Senate conference in early June,” said Concept Capital
policy analyst Jaret Seiberg.
The truth behind the oil dump is slowly coming out each week; though some folks have stalled any and all video showing what the dump looks like, those have come to the light of day as well; according to tv over 200thousand gallons of oil leaking per day. A Bp Representative, Doug Suttle, spoke on tv today stating they expect to control the situation by late Sunday with a procedure called a TopKill and the relief Well would not be in place until early August. An update was issued and it looks like the solution will take more time.
It’s all very disturbing but the fault lies with the 3stooges =(BP, Halliburton and TransOcean) not the President; this is yet another first and on a major scale .. the BP operation was not prepared for such an event which is very telling and serves as a great warning before they start drilling anywhere else along the coast.
Other News …
**80% of assault weapons in Mexico are coming from America
**The Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Kagan are 6/28
**Target is recalling 350thousand swim trunks
**Pelosi states that the work on Bills in the House of Representatives begins on 6/8
**BP stockholders are suing company execs claiming gross mismanagement
**Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a tough warning to North Korea yesterday, “saying the Obama administration would work with regional powers in the coming days to punish Pyongyang” for sinking a South Korean naval vessel. “This can not be business as usual. There must be an international response,” Clinton said.
**Defense Secretary Robert Gates “expressed confidence” yesterday that President Obama would veto “the defense authorization bill over a backup engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.” Gates has “repeatedly” expressed his opposition to the engine as too costly, but on Wednesday, a House committee approved another $485 million for development of the engine that “the Pentagon and White House do not want.”TP
**Seattle,WA Green Festival happens on 6/5-6/6
C-SPAN …
Supreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan: Confirmation Hearing to Begin June 28 | Sen. Judiciary Kagan Completed Questionnaire | Senate Judiciary Cmte. | Sen. Leahy | Sen. Hatch | Senate Judiciary Cmte. | Solicitor General Questionnaire
LIVE Feed of Underwater BP Oil Spill
Hearing on Afghanistan Reconstruction
State Dinner Full Event Coverage
Joint Press Conf.: From Earlier Welcoming Ceremony: From Earlier
DNC Chairman Tim Kaine Remarks
Melting Arctic Ice Opens Uncharted Legal Territory
Thinning arctic ice caps are creating new challenges to the security of Arctic Council nations and the resolution of territorial boundaries. Experts today discuss how these and other issues have affected U.S. national security in international waters. Panelists at the Center for Oceans Law and Policy (COLP) annual conference will also offer advice on what changes should be made to maritime law in response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and its potential spread beyond U.S. waters.
COLP Conference: C-SPAN at 9:30am ET
Regulators Propose Stricter Financial Accounting Standards
As congressional leaders prepare to reconcile differences on financial regulation legislation (see below left), three federal regulators today outline recommendations on improving financial industry accounting and auditing standards. The House Financial Services Capital Markets Subcommittee hearing is part of a series of inquiries into the 2007- 2008 financial crisis.
House Hearing: C-SPAN2 at 10am ET
Congress to Tackle Financial Regulation Bill Differences After Senate Passage
House and Senate leaders must reconcile their two different financial industry regulation bills before sending final legislation to the President for his signature. The Senate passed its bill Thursday in a 59-to-39 vote that split largely along party lines, with only two Democrats opposing the bill and four Republicans supporting it. The House passed its version in December.
Earlier Thursday, President Obama said he would work to ensure that the final legislation will be “effective and responsive” in limiting industry practices cited as among the causes of the 2007-2008 economic collapse.
Be a Seed for Change 
You must be logged in to post a comment.