Because of the increased number of yearly inspections and the added authority imposed upon federal mine inspectors, it has significantly reduced deaths and injuries in the mines as well as lowered the risks to miners' health. In the first decade of this century more than 2,000 coal miners were killed each year. Doomsdayers prophesied that government interference would considerably hamper coal production and result in massive shutdowns of coal mine operations. They couldn't have been more wrong. Coal production has risen from 610 million tons in 1970 to around one billion tons in 1994.
Coal continues to be at the foundation of the U.S. economy.
It generates 57 percent of the nation's electrical power. Thousands of consumer products rely on minerals in their construction or manufacture. This agency's regulatory scheme has succeeded in large measure because of the dedication of the thousands of people in the mining industry, in labor unions and in the federal government, first in accepting the law and then working to see that compliance is achieved. In the early 1900's, mining was marked with an abysmal health and safety record. As we near the close of this century, those numbers have never been better, and I am confident that MSHA will maintain a vital role in ensuring that the industry continues on this track.