Trump Policies are Killing Coal Miners

Hey coal miners with that red hat that Trump puts all the proceeds from the sale made in China right back in his billionaire pockets, how is Trump making your America great? If you haven’t gotten deathly ill from all that coal dust in your lungs yet, chances you will and your hero just took away life -saving benefits from you. If you voted for Hillary, by now you would have been benefitting from clean energy jobs and good health care. Instead under Trump your life has not gotten any better and probably worse.

In Coal Run, Kentucky, many coal miners are having to leave their jobs in the mines due to breathing issues. They are suffering from black lungs. In Central Appalachia they are enduring the largest black lung epidemic in a generation. The cause of black lung disease is well known. It is triggered by tiny particles of coal and rough dust that is found in the coal mines and settle in the miner’s lung tissue. The particles cause the lungs to scar and blacken limiting the good function of a clear lung. There is NO cure for the disease. For advanced cases the only treatment is a lung transplant which cost an average of $1.2 million dollars. No one can afford that and insurance companies won’t cover the operation anyway. So, these Trump voting men are suffering a slow agonizing death from limited breath and eventually suffocating.

Right now we are in the middle of a black lung epidemic that the United States has ever reported. Since Federal regulations were put in place in the 1960’s coalminers became a Republican poster boy for American hard workers. Today there are about 20,000 coalminers in Central Appalachia and one out of every five has long term effects from black lung. The disease is more fatal than it has ever been. Increased mechanization from the use of machines to break the coal up deep in the mines has resulted in 4 times the amount of mining that can be done per hour. The increase in production has increased exposure to harmful particles at a faster and more lethal rate.

Trump’s endorsement of coal production is killing more people now and at a faster rate. We know that the population is at risk, we know the cause of the disease and our lawmakers are doing nothing to save lives. To pay for treatments, sick miners apply for State and Federal Workers benefits that are paid for by coal companies. In Kentucky their X-Rays have to be examined by a doctor that has specific certification to detect black lung. A law that just went into effect last month on July 14^th called the HB2: Act Relating to Workers’ Compensation written on March 30, 2018 says that doctors who specialize in lung disease can give diagnoses for Workman’s Comp. Claims. It now limits the amount of doctors serving the entire state from 11 down to 5. Republican State Senator Rep. Adam Koenig sponsored the Bill. He had the owners of the coal mines influencing him to cut benefits to the miners.

Trump gave the owners tax breaks and the Republican Senator gave the coal companies less life -saving benefits to the miners. The CDC even said that any X-Ray technician can see the black particles infused to any lung.  Trump and the Republicans could care less about the safety and preservation of their most faithful supporters. Trump could care less about alternative renewable safe jobs either. Trump and his Republican thugs are killing the people of this country literally.