Speed of Light

It says something about our present diminished state that the idea of the Bush administration reinventing the wheel seems like a good thing. But apparently federal mine regulators are considering new safety rules, including some that were "in the pipeline" before being scrapped six years ago:

In all, the Bush administration abandoned or delayed implementation of 18 proposed safety rules that were in the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration's regulatory pipeline in early 2001, a review of agency records shows. At least two of the dropped proposals have now been resurrected in the aftermath of deadly accidents at the Sago and Alma mines in West Virginia.

In addition to the proposal to require caches of oxygen tanks, MSHA also is again considering expanding the number of mine rescue teams available to respond to disasters. A similar proposal to beef up rescue teams was scrapped by the agency in 2002, agency records show.

Wouldn't oxygen tanks in mines be a fire hazard? On the other hand, 72 men in a Canadian mine equipped with such tanks were rescued after being trapped underground for 3o hours a few weeks ago. (Another example of Canadian "cultural marxism"? See below.)

Better late than never, I suppose. Too bad those seem to be the only choices we have. American miners deserve better. Come to think of it, so do the rest of us.