20 people are killed by one crazy person at the Sandy Hook School in Newtown, Connecticut, in the context of a national trend of diminishing school violence and diminishing gun violence in general. President Obama holds a press conference, promises strict anti-gun legislation, and orders flags flown at half-mast across the country as candlelight vigils are held by people who knew nobody at all in Newtown.
19 people are killed in coal mining accidents in the United States. There is no presidential news conference. There are no flags flown at half mast.
Tens of thousands of Americans die every year because of pollution caused by burning coal. No anti-coal legislation is introduced into Congress. Instead, President Obama expands the burning of fossil fuels in an All Of The Above energy policy that protects the dirty, deadly status quo.
