Coal provides more than half of the nation's electric power, illuminates more homes and offices than any other power source and drives the assembly lines in Detroit and elsewhere. Almost all of the coal burned in the United States is mined domestically and U.S. exports are growing. Besides coal, U.S. metal and nonmetal miners produce some 60 different commodities. These include everything from gold to stone and gravel for highways, bridges and structures.
Miners also provide fertilizer for crops and sand for cement and fiber-optic cables.
They supply raw materials for a vast array of industrial and chemical products. These miners are more productive than ever before. In the best mines, however, they have been held at bay with increasingly sophisticated technology, training and safety management. The law was prompted by the Farmington mine explosion of 1968, which left 78 miners dead, some of whom still remain entombed in that West Virginia mine. Breathing coal mine dust has left thousands of coal miners disabled, unable to work and struggling for breath.