Original Caption: Picture of People Seated and Waiting for the Beckley (West Virginia) Black Lung Association Meeting to Begin. This Organization Is One of the Most Militant of the Groups Concerned with That Aspect of the Miners' Health. Miners Contract Black Lung by Inhaling Coal Dust in the Mines Which Fill Air Sacks in the Lungs and Make It Increasingly Difficult to Breathe 04/1974. Uploaded to Flickr on September 10, 2009 by The U.S. National Archives“Let’s Learn About Coal”: Industry front group distributes coloring book on the “advantages” of coal
November 7, 2009
Friends of Coal (FOC) is a front group created by the West Virginia Coal Association. Its mission is to “inform and educate West Virginia citizens about the coal industry” and “provide a united voice” for the industry. To make dirty coal seem appealing, FOC has sponsored or initiated license plates, football games, basketball practices, plane jumps, fishing events, and scholarships.
FOC is now selling coal to children. ThinkProgress obtained the “Let’s Learn About Coal” coloring book, which asks children to unscramble statements about the “advantages” of coal, such as “Than coal other cheaper is fuels” (”Coal is cheaper than other fuels”). Kids also learn that coal is “important” and “provides jobs for lots of people!”
The FOC Ladies Auxiliary has been handing the coloring book out to children around West Virginia
as part of a “Coal in the Classroom” campaign. Coal officials go into schools and give presentations about the importance of coal. “We’d really like this to be statewide, that it be mandatory in the schools that they learn about coal,” said FOC ladies auxiliary president Regina Fairchild in January. The ladies auxiliary is also recruiting members for its “junior” FOC group, open to “girls and boys ages 8 to 16.”
The rest.
Source: http://climateprogress.org/
