By Bill Raney, president

West Virginia Coal Association

Washington is broken. That much is obvious even to a sixth grader. While far too many Americans struggle with months or even years of unemployment, with foreclosure, with skyrocketing energy and food prices, there is a growing sense that nobody in Washington is listening.

Americans are increasingly fed up with “business as usual” in Washington. They want leaders with common sense, someone who puts the country ahead of party loyalty or some political agenda – someone who says what they think but is willing to listen as well as talk.

West Virginians are lucky.  Sen. Joe Manchin is just that kind of leader.

What the administration requires will cost Americans a ton of money

The supporters of the Obama administration have a clear vision of the nation's energy future. It involves windmills and solar arrays - but not coal. They don't like carbon.
The administration takes no responsibility for whether the resulting power supply will be adequate, reliable or affordable. Accordingly, it has tasked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to kill the coal industry and coal-burning utilities as rapidly as possible through regulation.
Out in America, however, people are responsible for whether Americans have power they can afford.

(AP) CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Testing coal miners for drugs presents both benefits and burdens to West Virginia regulators, the House and Senate Judiciary committees heard Monday as lawmakers pursue measures this session to improve mine safety.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has proposed a wide-ranging mine safety bill that includes a mandatory, random screening program for all mine jobs requiring certification. The random testing should annually screen half of any employer's certified workforce, the legislation says.

The two committees launched a two-day series of hearings Monday for that bill and others. Lawmakers seek to focus on proposals that respond to the 2010 Upper Big Branch mine explosion. The worst U.S. coal mining disaster in four decades, the underground Raleigh County blast killed 29 miners. The second hearing is slated for 2 p.m.Tuesday in the House of Delegates Chamber.

The Boone County Commission could lose hundreds of thousands of dollars if recently announced coal mine layoffs last for an extended period of time.

"It's going to hurt everybody in our county," Commission President Mickey Brown told MetroNews Monday. "We're totally dependent upon coal."

Both Patriot Coal and Alpha Natural Resources announced layoffs at various southern West Virginia coal mines last week. Several of those are in Boone County.

Brown says coal production actually peaked in Boone County in 2007 but severance tax revenues have stayed steady because of the high price of coal per ton.

"If it wasn't for the price---our coal severance would have been way down," Brown said.

CHARLESTON, W.Va.

A West Virginia company is working on a piece of equipment designed to keep miners safer.

Trinity Resources demonstrated its a mobile mine safety chamber this week at the West Virginia Mining Symposium in Charleston.

The company headquartered in Putnam County has been working on the project for about three years.

The device resembles a big steel box on bulldozer tracks and is designed to keep underground miners safe in the event of an explosion or collapse.

The Daily Mail reports that the aptly named Guardian Angel contains enough oxygen to keep 15 miners alive for up to four days. Food, first aid gear and water also can be placed under the floor panels in the chamber. And it's also equipped with a toilet.