If you grew up in West Virginia, regardless of what your family actually did/does, you probably have very strong opinions about coal mining.

Mining is a dangerous occupation, with rates for black lung decreasing over time, but there are still too many cases.

There is no easy solution to the quandary over coal mining. Coal mining has been for years the main industry here in WV. The decline of the mines has led to massive unemployment in counties where mines were the main employers.

The alternative to the underground mines is the controversial “Mountain top removal” mining. If you’ve never driven in WV, it may be hard to understand the horror that many of us feel looking at pictures of these sites. The fact West Virginia has attempted in recent years to promote tourism as an alternative to coal mining makes the appearance of this new form of strip mining even more loathsome, and has been linked by many to the severe flooding suffered in recent years.

The relationship between miners and mine owners has never been an easy one. The coal mine wars of the early 1900s were probably the lowest point, but operators have taken advantage of miners even in the present day.

It is with this history in mind, that I read the latest news regarding the Bush administration plan to change coal dust regulations.

WASHINGTON – In 1997, as a top executive of a Utah mining company, David Lauriski proposed a measure that could allow some operators to let coal-dust levels rise substantially in mines. The plan went nowhere in the government.

Last year, it found enthusiastic backing from one government official – Mr. Lauriski himself. Now head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration, he revived the proposal despite objections by union officials and health experts that it could put miners at greater risk of black-lung disease.

The reintroduction of the coal dust measure came after the federal agency had abandoned a series of Clinton-era safety proposals favored by coal miners while embracing others favored by mine owners.

That mine owners and operators who have, for centuries, taken advantage of those who actually mine the coal, should actually be trusted with the health and safety of those in their employ strikes me as the fox guarding the hen house. I’m not saying that all mine owners are cold and callous about their employees, but history has shown us that profit usually comes before safety. In an occupation as dangerous as mining, forgetting this seems deadly folly.