On his nightly "All In" show on MSNBC, Chris Hayes is doing a five-part series on the politics of coal. The first one took a close look at the decline of the industry in one of its iconic places, Harlan County, Kentucky, and featured a long and lively interview with Cecil Roberts, newly re-elected president of the United Mine Workers of America.
The second segment looked at coal's environmental and human impact, from mountaintop removal in Central Appalachia to the recent coal-ash spill in North Carolina, and featured an interview with one of the most controversial coal operators, Don Blankenship.
Hayes said the threatened coal industry is "using a few pages out of Big Tobacco's playbook. . . . It took almost 40 years" for scientific research on smoking to have an impact. John Cheves of the Lexington Herald-Leader told him that the industry's influence lasted 12 to 15 more years more because of its contributions to political campaigns.
The second segment looked at coal's environmental and human impact, from mountaintop removal in Central Appalachia to the recent coal-ash spill in North Carolina, and featured an interview with one of the most controversial coal operators, Don Blankenship.
Hayes said the threatened coal industry is "using a few pages out of Big Tobacco's playbook. . . . It took almost 40 years" for scientific research on smoking to have an impact. John Cheves of the Lexington Herald-Leader told him that the industry's influence lasted 12 to 15 more years more because of its contributions to political campaigns.
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