Coal miners speak out as Trump strips away health protections, they voted for him and think he will change his mind [View all]

President Trump has vowed to reinvigorate America's coal industry, although critics say his administration has stripped away key protections for miners.

Eight retired miners, all who say they have black lung disease and most who say they voted for the president, are now sounding the alarm.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/live-coal-miners-speak-trump-strips-health-protections/story?id=121257399

Some of the more than 800 NIOSH employees placed on administrative leave -- around two-thirds of the entire workforce, sources said -- have taken matters into their own hands, setting up a guerilla "war room" around a Morgantown, West Virginia, dining table to do what little federal work they can before they're officially laid off in June, while campaigning for their important work to continue.

"So, what is going to happen now to the average coal miner if this work isn't being done?" O'Brien asked Dr. Scott Laney, a veteran NIOSH epidemiologist who was placed on administrative leave.

"It's going to lead to premature mortality and death in these miners," Laney said. "There's just no getting around it."

"Nobody else in the federal government does the work that we do to protect U.S. workers," Hall said. "Nobody else, you know, specifically at CDC, nobody else at NIH, nobody else in the United States does what we do. When we are gone, when our work is gone, our research is gone -- nobody steps up to take our place."

Amanda Lawson, who works at a health center in West Virginia, told ABC News that last week three miners came in and had horrible X-rays. She says she's already feeling the effects of the NIOSH cuts.

------------

In deep red coal country, several of the miners who met with ABC News have faith that Trump will reinstate protections for coal miners.

"If they'll give Trump time and let him work out his -- he's got a plan," Robinson told O'Brien. "I mean, he knows what he's doing. He's a smart man."

"What if he doesn't?" O'Brien asked.

"I feel sorry for the miners," Robinson replied.