Recent contributions totaling $60 million dollars to the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign -- including a hefty donation from former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg -- are angering the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), which calls the campaign an attack on coal miners and their families.
“Billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s additional $30 million contribution to the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign is an affront to every working and retired coal miner, their families and their communities,” said UMWA president Cecil E. Roberts in a statement. “It provides yet more ammunition for an effort that has and apparently will continue to put the lives, health and well-being of hundreds of thousands at risk in Appalachia and elsewhere.”