Massey’s Dearly Departed

“When you decide to be something, you can be it. That’s what they don’t tell you in the church. When I was your age they would say we can become cops, or criminals. Today, what I’m saying to you is this: when you’re facing a loaded gun, what’s the difference?” -Frank Costello, The Departed What [...]

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Report: Massey’s Outlaw Corporate Culture Caused Coal Mining Disaster

On April 5, 2010, Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch Mining disaster claimed the lives of 29 miners. Now an independent investigator, former MSHA head David McAteer, has found that Massey Energy operated in a “profoundly reckless manner and 29 coal miners paid with their lives for the corporate risk-taking.” The report found that poor ventilation [...]

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The Death of Irony

Are we living in Bizarro world? As a final kiss goodbye to Massey Energy, the coal industry has once again spit in the eye of everything we hold to be moral or ethical. The West Virginia Coal Association awarded Massey Energy with the “Mountaineer Guardian” Awards. That’s right, the WV Coal Association considers the poster [...]

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Coal Tattoo: Massey’s Blankenship to Plead the Fifth in Mining Disaster Probe

Don Blankenship is going to plead the 5th in the Upper Big Branch probe. Seems that Big Don is invoking his right to avoid self-incrimination. I’m pretty shocked and awed by this bit of information. I guess all those times I called Blankenship a “homicidal maniac,” his lawyers didn’t disagree. Per Ken Ward at Coal [...]

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5 Better Ways Massey Could Spend Blankenship’s Golden Parachute

Just announced — Don Blankenship is set to receive a $12 million “F*** Off” package from Massey Energy. It must be very disappointing for Don, as last year he took home $18 million in salary and bonuses, the highest paid man in the coal business. Here are my thoughts about how Massey could spend that [...]

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Is The End Nigh For Massey?

“In a nation ruled by swine, all pigs are upwardly mobile.” — Hunter S. Thompson The stories are flying like hard boiled eggs at Faber College’s lunch room. News sources have reported that Massey’s sale to Cliff Natural Resources may be imminent. Massey’s reputation as the “poster child” of mountaintop removal and a top producer [...]

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Rumors Flying Over Massey’s Future

Rumors are circulating that Massey Energy, the largest mountaintop removal (MTR) mine operator in Appalachia, may be up for sale. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Massey “has formed a committee to study a number of options. Those options could include a sale to a rival or a private-equity firm, acquiring another company or [...]

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Campaign Calls for New York State Retirement Fund to Divest from Massey Energy

Here’s a guest post from “NY for Appalachia Rising”, who are calling for their state retirement fund to divest from Massey Energy: What can you buy with $15 million dollars? A blog, for one. Banking blog Bankaholic sold for that amount to a company called PadContent in 2008. An email: 15 million was the quote in [...]

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RAN Activists Send Message to Massey CEO Don Blankenship

RAN activists just disrupted Massey CEO Don Blankenship’s talk at the National Press Club sending him a strong message:“Your coal is not Clean, Safe or Forever.” They were eventually escorted out by security. Pics. Video. Washington, D.C. (7/22/10)— Today activists with the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) attended Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship’s National Press Club [...]

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Massey CEO Don Blankenship Leaving US Chamber of Commerce Board

I have a theory that the powers that be are throwing Massey CEO and homicidal maniac Don Blankenship under the proverbial bus and not even looking for skid marks. Here’s more evidence proving my point. He’s leaving the U.S. Chamber of Commerce board. The Chamber is saying his rotation has merely ended. Maybe, maybe not. [...]

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