The Death of Irony

By scott parkin

Mountain removal image via ilovemountains.orgAre 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 child of mountaintop removal and perpetrator of the death of their own 29 miners a “guardian” of their “mountaineers.”

Activist Paul Krassner described the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Henry Kissinger as “The Death of Irony.” Massey Energy winning the “Mountaineer Guardian” award fits the same bill. Last year, through criminally negligent safety practices, Massey killed 29 miners in the Upper Big Branch mine. They regularly destroy Appalachia’s mountains through mountaintop removal. They can hardly be considered guardians of mountains or mountaineers.

Maybe they’ll nominate Don Blankenship for a Nobel Peace Prize next.