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The recent mining disaster reminded all of us that we pay a price for our modern way of life that sometimes exceeds what can be measured in dollars.
Mining is a dangerous profession, sometimes made more dangerous by operators who look the other way when safety violations are found.
Whether safety violations went uncorrected in this case is uncertain at this point, but rumors (as early news reports often are) abound that there were numerous violations for this facility in the past year.
As a consumer who uses coal-generated electricity I am more than willing to pay for safe mines. Safe is relative, of course, but a good measure is whether the workers feel comfortable working in the mines.
Everyone likes a bargain, but human life being lost because someone is trying to shave a few pennies off the price of coal is no bargain.
I love free markets, but I also feel that in order to be truly free a market consumer should be aware of what they are purchasing and how it is made and push their desires back down the supply chain if they are willing to pay more for extra service (or safety, in this case).
One of the reasons health care costs so much in this nation is the consumer is disconnected from the suppliers. Energy is not quite that bad, but you often have power generators making deals with raw material suppliers and only looking at the cost of alternative fuels and suppliers instead of the consumer's actual desires.
My advice to anyone who feels that this disaster was caused by evil capitalism is to let your energy providers know that you are willing to pay more for your energy if you have to in order to get supplied from companies who have good safety records.
I don't buy from companies that have lousy customer service. I would be just as reluctant to buy from companies that had lousy safety records. However, for consumers to have that choice you must first have free markets.
Current Mood : busy 
Tags : capitalism, coal industry, energy, federal regulations, free markets
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