College football season starts today. And yesterday, West Virginia Mountaineers unveiled a special football uniform that honors the 29 miners lost in the Upper Big Branch mine tragedy.
The introduction of this new uniform was made by Mountaineer basketball coach Bob Huggins, to described it in the following manner:
The tie between a state and its university is a strong one: none stronger than at West Virginia. At West Virginia, we are proud of where we come from, and proud of the hard-working people who support us. Many of these hard-working people are members of the coal mining community. Just as they have supported us, we support them. We are inspired by their work ethic, we pray for their safety, and when tragedy strikes we grieve their loss.
These uniforms will first appear in this season’s Backyard Brawl against Pitt. And as Coach Huggins said: Go Mountaineers, Beat the Hell out of Pitt.
“Some people believe in CO2 so strongly it trumps every other thought that they’ve got, so we wouldn’t expect them to favor coal mining,” Mr. Blankenship said. “Some people believe that the country should be socialized so they are opposed to free enterprise. I mean, you have to have your own beliefs, your own core beliefs, your own strengths and do what you think is right. You can’t do what others believe is right, you have to do what you believe is right.”
At last year’s Friends of America rally and concert, one of the musical acts was the group Taylor Made. They are one of the strongest musical voices in favor of coal mining and the Appalachian way of life.
Here are the lyrics to one of Taylor Made’s most popular songs, “West Virginia Underground”:
I don’t remember askin’ you to pat my back,
but damn, don’t you ride it so hard.
You talk about new ways and better plans,
but you ain’t showed me nothin’ so far.
Until you got a solution, keep your damn mouth shut,
you’re just another problem we’ve found.
We put our heart and soul into diggin’ coal,
we’re the West Virginia Underground.
I work my shift at the bottom of a hole,
makin’ sure that your lights come on.
And your interview, ain’t by candlelight,
while you’re bitchin’ what I’m doins wrong.
This ain’t Hollywood, this is West by God,
it’s Virginia and Kentucky coalfields.
It’s the way of life that beats the kids in life,
and that’s the only thing that matters down here.
Chorus
I don’t remember askin’ you to pat my back,
but damn, don’t you ride it so hard.
You talk about new ways and better plans,
but you ain’t showed me nothin’ so far.
Until you got a solution, keep your damn mouth shut,
you’re just another problem we’ve found.
We put our heart and soul into diggin’ coal,
we’re the West Virginia Underground.
Whether up from the bottom, or down from the top,
that coal’s comin’ out of the ground.
And I’d rather restructure a mountain top,
than have another Chernobyl in my town.
This is coal minin’ country, that’s what we do,
and we don’t like you nosin’ around.
For years we’ve had your kind tryin’ to undermine
the West Virginia Underground.
Chorus
I don’t remember askin’ you to pat my back,
but damn, don’t you ride it so hard.
You talk about new ways and better plans,
but you ain’t showed me nothin’ so far.
Until you got a solution, keep your damn mouth shut,
you’re just another problem we’ve found.
We put our heart and soul into diggin’ coal,
we’re the West Virginia Underground.
Until you’re payin’ my bills, get your ass off my hill,
we’re the West Virginia Underground.
The Holmes Safety Association, a non-profit organization founded in 1918, annually recognizes outstanding safety performance in the mining industry. The association’s members include representatives from state and federal government agencies, mining organizations and labor unions.
Since the Upper Big Branch mine explosion, there have been a number of calls for MSHA to abandon its normal, secretive, closed-door process and make its accident investigation open to the public.
Massey strongly supports the principle that the investigation into the Upper Big Branch accident must be independent, honest, and aggressive. Transparency is an important element of this process, and we accordingly call for MSHA to conduct its investigation through a public hearing, rather than through closed door sessions.
To be credible, any such hearing must also be fair. Any hearing must encompass the basic principles of due process. To the greatest possible extent, basic protections must be in place to ensure that the hearing develops a complete and balanced public record. Massey supports a hearing that is fair and credible, as well as open and transparent.
Excerpts of these remarks are below. Full statements are available at http://masseyubb.com/
Don Blankenship, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
“We are fully dedicated to figuring out what happened if humanly possible to do so. We owe to the families, and to the industry, and to the public our best and sincerest efforts to find the cause of the explosion. It is critical that we find out the facts so that all Massey and industry coal miners can work without fear of another explosion. Once the facts are known, we will enact corrective processes at Massey immediately and encourage regulation and laws focused on eliminating the chance of a reoccurrence.”
General Robert H. “Doc” Foglesong, Director
“The first and most important consideration, of course, is providing care for the families of the 29 miners who died. Massey Energy is providing these benefits without requiring any family to settle any legal issues — we’re doing it because it’s the right thing to do.”
Admiral Bobby R. Inman, Lead Independent Director
“Massey Energy is dedicated to maintaining the highest level of integrity in every aspect of its operations. Some have called for immediately changing our leadership. Making changes in the midst of a crisis is exceptionally high risk for all stakeholders. When the crisis has subsided and we know the facts, we will maintain the highest standard of accountability and responsibility.”
Stanley Suboleski, Director
“Massey Energy is cooperating with all federal and state regulatory agencies involved in this investigation. The company is committed to working together to determine the cause of the accident, and to preventing it from ever happening again.”
“It is important to note that the longwall at UBB was not operating with the same ventilation system that it began with in September 2009. MSHA required us to change that system and we complied. Recognizing that professionals can reasonably disagree on the best method of ventilation at a mine, we have discovered the following: 1. that MSHA required several changes since that date that made the ventilation in this area significantly more complex; 2. that the volume of fresh air to the face was significantly reduced during this period; and 3. that our engineers resisted making the changes, in one instance to the point of shutting down production for two days, before agreeing to MSHA’s ventilation plan changes.”