coal

Over 40 years ago, almost half of all miners who worked over 25 years old contracted black lung, a harrowing disease that constricts air flow, making it hard for victims to eat and breathe and eventually taking their life.

But in 1969, Congress made a promise: Mining companies would have to keep dust levels down, and black lung would be virtually eradicated.

Forty years later, black lung has come back with a vengeance. And its victims are younger and the cases more dire, despite having worked fewer years in the coal mines.

If you need a specific example of how your tax dollars are wasted on needless subsidies to the already wealthy fossil fuel industries, then look for further than the Bureau of Land Management's corrupt coal land leasing program.