Why is Coal Still Mined? Insights from Asbestos and the Structures of Risk Invisibilization

The deleterious consequences of coal mining are well known, but little attention is paid to the most egregious of all: black lung disease. The 21st-century resurgence of black lung sheds light onto the persistent inability of regulations to address this problem. Despite this, voices seeking the fading out of coal mining based on health concerns are scarce. This paper examines why coal is still mined in the United States through a comparison with asbestos mining in Quebec, Canada, which ended in 2013 for similar health reasons. Drawing on archival research, I argue that the persistence of coal is the result of greater risk invisibilization. I rely on a structural approach to risk construction and highlight how macro-level factors shape the social construction of risks downstream. Three factors explain the unique trajectory of coal: labor’s cooptation of black lung activism, the bottom-up formulation of the federal regulatory framework, and the concentration of health risks within mining communities. This paper specifies conditions under which certain regulatory issues can become visible and lead to reforms, while others remain on the margins of the political agenda.