Re: “Trump exempts nearly 70 coal plants from Biden-era rule on mercury and other toxic air pollution,” Nation, April 15:
Trump describes coal as “beautiful and clean.” “Dangerous and dirty” is much more accurate. Two years ago, the CDC (now facing DOGE cuts) released a long-term study on the health of coal miners conducted by scientists at the University of Illinois, Chicago and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Long story short: Researchers reviewed the cause-of-death data of 235,550 U.S. coal miners who died between 1979 and 2017 and found that American coal miners born in 1940 or later, and especially those in Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia, have over eight times the odds of dying from nonmalignant respiratory diseases than others in their age group in the general population. These diseases include “black lung,” silicosis and progressive fibrosis, all caused by coal dust inhalation. Coal miners face high rates of lung cancer. Explosions and accidents are also responsible for coal miners’ comparatively short life spans of 50 to 60. So, how exactly is coal “beautiful and clean”?
Jennifer Robertson, Seattle
