Black Lung

A West Virginia Coal Miner Just Saved NIOSH’s Black Lung Program

May 16, 2025 Kim Kelly, In These Times. Resist! Black Lung, Coal Miners, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), West Virginia

In a rare occasion of good news for the nation’s coal miners, a decision this week in a lawsuit brought by one of their own will reverse at least some of the damage done when the Trump administration eviscerated the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) offices in Morgantown, W. Va., in April. That’s when hundreds of those workers had suddenly found themselves out of a job thanks to a slapdash “reorganization,” as the Elon Musk-directed wreckers in DOGE termed it. As a result, the NIOSH Respiratory Health Division and the Coal Workers Health Surveillance Program (CWHSP), whose ongoing research and health screenings are critically important in addressing the black lung epidemic stalking Appalachia’s coal miners, were left unable to function.

Trump Just Escalated His War On Coal Miners

April 15, 2025 Kim Kelly, In These Times. Resist! Black Lung, Coal Miners, DOGE, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Trump Administration, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

President Donald Trump unveiled a new barrage of executive orders last week aimed at revitalizing the nation’s “beautiful clean coal” industry. But in reality, it’s already clear that his empty words will do no such thing. Flanked by burly white men outfitted in coal miners’ garb, the former reality TV star and failed real estate tycoon rhapsodized about his muddled plans to supercharge coal’s use and production, including scrapping environmental regulations that “undermine” its production and ensuring federal policy doesn’t “discriminate” against the fossil fuel industry. The astonishing impracticality of this plan did not appear in any way to be a factor in Trump’s decision, which was still applauded by people who should know better

The Nation’s Coal Miners Get A Rare Piece Of Good News

April 20, 2024 Kim Kelly, In These Times. Educate! Black Lung, Coal Miners, Regulation, Worker Rights and Jobs

Today, the Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) officially published a new federal safety rule aimed at reducing the amount of silica dust that coal miners breathe during their long shifts underground. As In These Times reported in a 2023 investigation, the prior standard allowed miners to be exposed to as much as 100 micrograms of silica dust per cubic meter, which was twice as high as the silica limit for workers in all other industries. The new rule slashes the limit to 50 micrograms — a level first recommended in 1974.

West Virginia Hearing: Don’t Cut Corners With Miners’ Safety

August 22, 2023 Kim Kelly, In These Times. Create! Black Lung, Health Care, Miners, Mining, West Virginia, Workplace Safety

West Virginia - At 9:00 A.M. sharp on August 10, a small phalanx of smiling, well-coiffed elderly women began herding a crowd of several dozen people into the auditorium of the National Mine Health and Safety Academy in Beckley, West Virginia. Among the crowd were former coal miners and their spouses, lawyers, pulmonologists, black lung clinic staff, environmental activists, local media, union representatives, and concerned citizens — all there to attend a public hearing for a new proposed rule from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) that seeks to limit silica exposure in the nation’s coal mines to 50 micrograms per cubic meter, down from 100.

The Young Miners Dying Of ‘An Old Man’s Disease’

May 30, 2023 Kim Kelly, In These Times. Educate! Black Lung, Health Care, Miners, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs, Workplace Safety

Adaptation is a way of life for John Moore. He’s worked construction, run a wig shop and now promotes concerts. The wig shop idea came to him because his middle daughter was having trouble styling her thick, curly hair. He didn’t know much about wigs, or hair in general, so he learned and started turning a profit soon after the grand opening. That’s the kind of man he is — someone who’s always looking out for the next opportunity, the next chance to make it. When we meet, Moore is wearing a black puffer jacket, a black durag, work boots and a cautious smile. He’s soft-spoken but firm, and he lights up when he talks about his wife and three kids.

Daily movement news and resources