So let's see here. It started with Upper Big Branch on April 5. Shortly after that — April 28, to be exact — Dotiki Mine in Kentucky where two men were killed. Just as tragic for their families, but certainly overshadowed by Upper Big Branch on a national news level.
On April 20, of course, the big dog — Deepwater Horizon, which is becoming known as the BP Oil Spill. Much to BP's dismay, I'm sure, but... we're up to day 50 and the oil is still spraying forth, even though BP says it will be under control Real Soon Now™. If you're going to make a claim like that, you're going to get your name attached to it.
Interesting how Upper Big Branch never got called "The Massey Explosion" or something similar. All things considered, BP is a much bigger devil than Massey, and it's easier for a little devil to slip away in the dark — especially when you practically get a pardon from the governor.
Anyway. In the last two days, three gas pipeline explosions — yesterday, one each in West Virginia and Texas; today, another in Texas. Three dead in the Texas events, seven injured here in the Mountain State.
So in just over two months, there have been five widely-reported accidents in the US involving fossil fuels. I don't know what the normal "incident rate" is for this kind of thing. I'm pretty aware it's a much smaller world now than even two years ago, and news travels fast, so we could just be hearing about them more than there being more of them.
But Upper Big Branch was big. BP is still big (and getting bigger — speaking of which, why haven't we seen a huge spike in gas prices?). The whole thing just feels off to me. Here are these two significant fossil fuel disasters, pretty close together in time, when alternative energy is kind of on the national agenda anyway (or at least on enough prominent back burners). The timing seems a little too convenient.