US government halts study on health effects of coal mining

The study's budget was only $1m. Seems like the readership of HN could easily pull that money together and donate the funding, if the researchers could accept it.

The information age is built on gathering raw data and doing pure research, neither of which are profitable activities.<p>The implied threshold for wastefulness here is offensively low; basically any project that might require one moderately competent PhD researcher for a year.

Outside&#x2F;In interviewed some miners and families recently. It&#x27;s phenomenal radio, actually talking to the people everyone else just talks about.<p>I haven&#x27;t been able to get it out of my mind.<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;outsideinradio.org&#x2F;shows&#x2F;ep34" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;outsideinradio.org&#x2F;shows&#x2F;ep34</a><p>Note, I know this isn&#x27;t 1:1, not about the communities surrounding mountaintop removal, but there are some good notes in it about modern changes to mining techniques all the same.

You don&#x27;t need anymore research to know it is obviously dangerous. What we do need is leadership that doesn&#x27;t bow down to cronies &amp; supports stupid beliefs.

&quot;But think of the freedom of speech!&quot;<p>In all seriousness though, the most important bit wasn&#x27;t even clarified by the article:<p><i>The agency says it is reviewing spending on all projects that cost more than $100,000.</i><p>So is it actually true and I&#x27;m supposed to be manipulated into outrage due to cherry picking this one project? Or is it false and I&#x27;m supposed to be actually outraged at this shadowy deceitful action?

I assumed it was widely known that coal mining was hazardous to ones health. My grandfather died from black lung before I was born.

Just bring back the rule of law. Tort law would mean that coal burning would be sued to extinction. Accepting the death of all tomorrow so that some may survive today is absurd. The church of pseudo-finance tells us that burning our forests down and poisoning all our rivers is &#x27;growth&#x27;. Any child would laugh this away as insanity.

Do they really need to conduct a study to determine that spewing black smoke into the air hurts human beings?<p>The Coal lobby must love Trump.<p>Glad millennials won&#x27;t work for Coal or Oil.

Lysenkoism proved fruitful many unpopular subjects.

The world will not come to an end yet but this is not a good way to ensure its ensuing survival.

&gt; The agency says it is reviewing spending on all projects that cost more than $100,000.<p>Title of this article is somewhat misleading; it&#x27;s actually even more serious, apparently.

These studies are often started with political goals in mind -- the article confirm this when it highlights &quot;the political nature of the topic&quot;. Maybe the money is better spent on a study on the health effects of lithium extraction?

Title is misleading. All projects that cost more than $100,000 are being reviewed.

So glad POTUS did this. It is a huge waste of money to find out what the general public already know. The health effects are very, very bad! The worst!

What are they afraid of? It&#x27;s too dark down in a coal mine to read any health studies anyway!