The people who work to keep us driving

The recent tragedies in West Virginia coal mines (including two more men dead this week) and on the BP Oil Rig in the Gulf should remind us that there is a human cost to our relentless energy consumption that goes well beyond the ground war in the Middle East and the economic damage of pollution.

Lives are lost in giving us what we can't live without.We owe these people respect for risking their lives to keep us on the road and able to read in the dark.

It's not enough to say "they get paid well enough" when you look at the salaries. But do the math and figure in the hours these workers put in under dismal conditions. Witness the poor housing and family separations they endure, as described in the NYT article about North Dakota oil workers living in dilapidated RVs without sewers or water. They sacrifice to keep us from having to make any sacrifices.

These men and women who died digging coal and pumping oil are every bit as much involved of America's defense against terrorism as the military. They may not be on the battlefield or in as much danger as combat troops, but they are as important as the long supply chain which runs from Camp Pendelton to Kabul and Baghdad.