and my granddad told me something very important that i learned in appalachia. it is the abuse of the people always goes hand in hand with the abuse of the land. they strip mine us and then our land. but there is no such thing as an environmental act because human beings live in the environment but we are all a part of this experience here. this old man came up to me and offered me a little moonshine. it's on sale for $9.99. he said when you need to make moonshine is clean water and hard put to fire up. eagle creek used to be famous. he said don't tell that to anybody. gun-toting hillbillies drinking and feuding. that is what we were told anÍbal creek, considered the most dangerous place in america. worse than the northern plains and the shoddy and. the place your risk your life. you can't go in there to read and the people who couldn't go to eagle creek was the plan. they tried to come on time and there were completely routed out and would hang up with the pointy hats the was the backwoodsman that took on this land. but moon shine was an indicator of the enviro

there's a lot of anger around massey's mountain top removal mining, flattening large areas of appalachiaer -- clean water act violations there. so i think what's happening, people are finally standing up in west virginia and saying this has to stop. we have to change the way we mine coal. >> when we think about trying as a country to make sure that people have a right to work without it costing them their lives, and we think about trying to make -- create the expectation that companies will follow the law and not try to either buy their way or bully their way around it, you look at what happened with the arakoma mine fire. that was in west virginia in 2006. as you say, massey didn't just pay multi million dollar fines there, they were found guilty in a criminal case on that. >> right. >> and yet we are still seeing safety violations related to ventilation, related to some of the same things that killed those miners in west virginia in 2006. if fines don't work, increased regulations don't work, what works? >> it's a good question. this is a political problem. this is about the fact that

central appalachia. everybody understands that mining has always been risky, but you know it can be made safer by people who want to make it safer. that will often start with the person who is in charge of the company. safety is about a company doing the right thing, mr. president. safety is also about a state and federal government stepping in and toughening up our laws where that needs to be done. and it is about providing the resources and the people to enforce those laws. let me give you an example. currently, the federal mine safety and health review commission has 14 administrative law judges. if this year's budget request is enacted, they will have 18. they will go from 14 to 18. now, those 18 -- and right now those 14 administrative law judges together face a backlog of more than 16,000 cases containing 82,000 violations. it's incomprehensible to me. it's ridiculous, but it's true and it's unacceptable. in the aftermath of sago, i was proud to co-author the miner act along with senator byrd, sena

. >> he's a larger than life character in appalachia, a throw-back to coal barons of the 19th century reporter: he's accused of putting profit before safety. they cite a memo to mine superintendents in which blankenship told them to ignore orders to do anything but run coal. we seem not to understand that coal pays the bills. blankenship said the memo was taken out of context. in 2006 two miners died at a fire at the massey mine. the company was hit with the largest financial settlement in the history of the coal industry for willfully violating safety standards. tamron. >> lisa, there are two more resignations in the aftermath of that spending scandal that involved a trip to a bondage-themed nightclub. a high profile consultant and committee member have left the committee. that's putting added strains on the gop's political machine and its chairman michael steele after a spending scandal that erupted last week. politico.com writes on what to watch in the coming days, including are there any more drips to drop. meaning are others headed to the exit door. there seems to be a, quote, de

a lot of them are in appalachia, midsouth, et cetera. do they use this to appeal to independents and republicans already worried about the role of government, et cetera, et cetera, or do they really acknowledge what all of their strategists tell them, which is that long-term it is a huge disaster for the republican party to be seen as anti-latino. when latinos are now one out of every six americans, 45 million latinos in america. the percentage of their vote is going up election by election, even in off-year elections and beyond that, keith. with all fair-minded americans, which, you know, let's give us the benefit of the doubt and say that's just about everybody, the idea that a person could be walking down the street and could be looked at with suspicion by authorities and have their papers demanded of them in the fashion of old medieval europe is something that is so foreign to americans understanding of themselves, that that's the fire that the republicans are really playing with here. because it's a very short step for all those peo

and then if it gets down to around $3, i think as an industry again in central appalachia you see some significant impacts to central appalachian steam coal. >> sounds like if you were a bear on nat gas you've got to be a bear on a thermal coal-related play. >> or you can defend a lot of the m&a activity that's been taking plau in the space where the guys have been diversifying into nat gas. a lost people said hey, why are you doing that? and the relate reality is this is a great hedge for these guys at a time when coal prices may suffer from gas being more interesting. >> let's hit the poll of the day today because we love asking you what you think. who gains from goldman's pain? a, morgan stanley. b, the underdog, jefferies. c, the comeback kid, citi, which of course had a nice pop today. mr. vikram, thumbs up to you. log on to fastmoney.cnbc.com right now, tell us what you think. >> who dare challenge goldman sachs? >> oh, come on. >> more "fast money" coming up next. >> how do you trade the house that steve built? ahead of apple earnings tomorrow, we slice up the stock so you can p

coal has left a mark on the communities throughout west virginia and appalachia.for many of these communities, the mine may be the only way to earn a decent living. these miners are proud of their work and their contribution to the american economy. coal is in their blood, it's in their tradition and it is their career. what we also know that underground mine something one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. every day miners show up for their shift knowing that there's a chance that they may not return to their families and yet they show up every day. at 3:30 p.m. during the shift change, a massive explosion ripped through the upper big branch mine and took the lives of 29 miners and sent others to the hospital. while the cause of this tragedy is still under investigation, today we me more yalingize those 29 miners who perished. our nation sends our deepest condolences to those. we sent our heartfelt sympathies to those who have lost someone. those thoughts are with you and your communities and your suffering these devastating losses. these losses will remain

>> do you art absolutely right in white appalachia is an example. if you have poverty and neglect, there is no investment, no employment so what is it that people must do? better education. all these things would go a long way in order to change the situation. >> thank you. >> when i was listening to you speak,-- i work for at the new jersey department of corrections, so i am fully familiar with the difficulties. i think there are so many avenues here that you need to attack because a lot of people earn their living by continuing the correctional system, and they are white and they are black and they are hispanic. i think when you began, and they think the lady that was talking about getting a ground movement, because politicians really respond and have to respond to many letters that come into their offices. prison administrators have to respond to letters coming into the prisons. so, you do have to attack things from this ground level and ground them and having two hands are those letters. but i am thinking of the other people you have to influenc

coal has left a mark on the communities throughout west virginia and appalachia. for many of these communities, the mine may be the only way to earn a decent living. these miners are proud of their work and their contribution to the american economy. coal is in their blood, it's in their tradition and it is their career. what we also know that underground mine something one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. every day miners show up for their shift knowing that there's a chance that they may not return to their families and yet they show up every day. at 3:30 p.m. during the shift change, a massive explosion ripped through the upper big branch mine and took the lives of 29 miners and sent others to the hospital. while the cause of this tragedy is still under investigation, today we me more yalingize those 29 miners who perished. our nation sends our deepest condolences to those. we sent our heartfelt sympathies to those who have lost someone. those thoughts are with you and your communities and your suffering these devastating losses. these losses will remai

in our appalachia. central apple lachey. everybody understands that mine and has always been risky.ut you know, it can be made safer. by people there who want to make it safer. that will often start with a person who is in charge of the company. safety is about a company doing the right things, mr. president. safety is also about a sting of federal government stepping in and toughen it up our laws or that needs to be done. and is about providing the resources and the people and to enforce those laws. let me give you an example. currently the zero federal mine safety and health review commission has 14 the administrative law judges. if the budget request is and how did they will have 18, they will go for 14 to 18. now, those 18 and right now those 14 administrative law judges together to face a backlog of more than 16,000 cases. continued 82,000 violations want. it is incomprehensible to, it is ridiculous but industry and an unacceptable. in the aftermath of as a geographer virus prior to the minor act along with senator. , senator kennedy and senator right in seeing provide on in. t