The U.S. government is ending the leases of four Mine Safety and Health Administration offices in Pennsylvania and has plans to cut 200 jobs at the Pittsburgh Mining Research Division of OSHA (“Pa. mine safety, research offices targeted for closure as president touts coal,” April 8, TribLive). This drastic reduction in the capabilities of the agencies that work to improve mining technology and protect mine workers is supposed to save the magnificent sum of $2.59 million.
By contrast, President Trump has already spent north of $18 million in golf trips in just the first six weeks of his second term.
As the granddaughter of a coal miner, I am appalled at the cavalier attitude of a president who promotes additional coal mining while cutting the resources of the only governmental agency that works to protect the lives and health of the vulnerable human beings who do the hard and dangerous work of mining.
Lynne Henry
Greensburg