THE horrific explosion at Performance Coal Co.'s Upper Big Branch mine ended the lives of 29 men.

The mine is still too dangerous to enter, and the underground investigations into what happened have not even begun. Answers are many months away.

That left a news vacuum, which human nature abhors. Scarcely had the memorial service ended  - 29 crosses, 29 hard hats - when people with personal, institutional, environmental and political motivations seized upon the moment to begin pursuing their own agendas

Authors flogged books on needy news channels.

The United Mine Workers   has been unable to organize some Massey Energy mines in what had been the heart of union country. UMWA President Cecil Roberts vilified Massey Energy President Don Blankenship with a fiery speech in Maryland.

"He's broken every health and safety record in this country," Roberts said. "If there's any justice in America, the day will come when he's in leg irons and in handcuffs marching off to jail."

The anti-fossil-fuel crowd weighed in.

"Clean Energy Works, a coalition of about 60 groups that want climate legislation, sent an e-mail to reporters with the headline 'Coal Mine Owner Puts Profits Before Safety,' " wrote Greenwire for the New York Times.

J.W. Randolph of Appalachian Voices said, in Greenwire's words: "The explosion was caused by the same profit-at-all- costs culture that leads coal companies to ignore the ecological  consequences of mountaintop-removal mining."

"The death of 29 miners highlights the need for a transition away from coal and toward safer jobs such as wind turbine manufacturing, said Randolph with Appalachian Voices," Greenwire said.

Law firms trolled for grieving plaintiffs that could help them  win millions of dollars in fees.

Robbins Geller Ruman & Dowd of San Diego, San Francisco, New York, Boca Raton, Washington, Philadelphia and Atlanta filed a class-action suit in Beckley seeking plaintiffs who bought Massey stock and saw its price go down after the accident.

Said BusinessWire: "The complaint alleges that prior to and during the Class period, Massey claimed to be one of the safest mine operators in the industry, regularly touting its safety achievements and telling investors that safety was its number one priority. In fact, safety at Massey's mines was repeatedly sacrificed so that aggressive production goals could be met."

Well, in fact, that "fact" has not yet been established. Understanding citations and accident rates has proved difficult for laymen.

Retired Navy Admiral Bobby Inman, a member of the Massey board of directors, wrote to an investment group:

"The amount of time lost to accidents at Massey Energy has bested the industry average for 17 of the last 19 years, and improvements continue. {Upper Big Branch} had less than one violation per inspection day cited by MSHA, a rate consistent with national averages."

"The safety benchmark used by the industry and MSHA is the Non-Fatal Days Lost, or NFDL rate, which measures the frequency of accidents that cause a miner to miss work. Massey's rate has shown constant improvement and is far better than the industry average."

Massey will have no defenders if it is found to have been reckless about mine safety.

Until findings are in, it's important to recognize that sub-agendas are in play.

Blankenship ran an independent campaign that helped to unseat one of the state's woollier Supreme Court justices. Blankenship serves on the board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a thorn in President Obama's side.

The UMW would love to bring Massey down. The anticarbonists would love to bring him down.

All these points of view are legitimately voiced. But they must not be allowed to obscure or distort the pursuit of the sacred agenda - finding out what happened at Upper Big Branch.

These men died:

Carl Acord, Jason Atkins, Christopher Bell, Gregory Steven Brock, Kenneth Allan Chapman, Robert Clark, Charles Timothy Davis, Cory Davis, Michael Lee Elswick, William I. Griffith, Steven Harrah, Edward Dean Jones, Richard K. Lane, William Roosevelt Lynch, Nicholas Darrel McCroskey, Joe Marcum, Ronald Lee Maynor, James E. Mooney, Adam Keith Morgan, Rex. L. Mullins, Joshua S. Napper, Howard D. Payne, Dillard Earl Persinger, Joel R. Price, Deward Scott, Gary Quarles, Grover Dale Skeens, Benny Willingham and Ricky Workman.

What happened to them is more important than anything else.

The president should use his powers to keep that issue front and center in this discussion - ahead of any other agenda.

Anything less than that is an insult to them. 

Maurice is editorial page editor of the Daily Mail. She may be reached at 348-4802 or ha...@dailymail.com.