President Donald Trump has long championed what he calls “beautiful, clean coal,” and during his second term, has implemented policies designed to “reinvigorate” the waning industry, but one policy expert warned Sunday that those very policies are also causing miners to “get sick and die,” many of whom are among the president’s strongest supporters.
“If the Trump administration actually cared about protecting coal miners from black lung, we’d have a strong silica rule in place right now,” said Rebecca Shelton, director of policy for the Appalachian Citizen’s Law Center, Mother Jones reported on Sunday.
“Instead, they are hiding behind a ridiculous legal process to delay action while miners get sick and die.”
While always a dangerous occupation, mining has only grown more dangerous in recent years as it relates to black lung disease, a condition caused by long-term inhalation of dangerous particles. Miners today are forced to “cut through much more rock with high levels of quartz,” Mother Jones reported, exposing workers to particles of crystalline silica dust.
Mining operations are especially concentrated in the Appalachian Plateau, a region that includes parts of Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and Kentucky, all states, save for Virginia, that Trump handily won in the 2024 election. The southwestern region of Virginia where mining is concentrated, however, is among the strongest Republican footholds in the nation.
And yet, despite mining operations being concentrated in heavily pro-Trump regions of the country, the president, upon coming into office last year, immediately cut the budget and staff of the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). Responsible for enforcing compliance with mining safety regulations, MSHA also delayed the enforcement of a new rule to protect miners from silica inhalation shortly after Trump was sworn into office after a series of “intense lobbying” efforts from coal industry groups, Mother Jones reported.
Justin Smarsh, a former coal miner from Cherry Tree, Pennsylvania, was diagnosed with progressive massive fibrosis, the “most severe form” of black lung disease. At 42, he’s been told by doctors that he “won’t live to see 50,” Mother Jones reported. Speaking with Mother Jones, Smarsh shared some harsh words for coal industry executives.
“All they’re worried about is ‘you better have that black gold,’” Smarsh told Mother Jones. “They say they care about miners, but you go underground, you’re taking the risk, for you to get nothing but sick, and to fill their pockets full.”