I'm not saying this is cause and effect, but...

So the President nominates a former coal company exec, named Richard Stickler, to run the Mine Safety and Health Administration. The Senate objects to his nomination, citing the high accident rates for all the mines he's managed. Senate goes into recess and the President makes a recess appointment.

Yeseterday in Pennsylvania a coal mine accident killed one worker and forced five others to escape.

The culture of regulation in the mining industry, even after Sago, is not just lax but almost nonexistent. We should not be appointing industry executives to regulate the industries in which they once worked.