By Tomas Alex Tizon, Staff Writer
Los Angeles Times August 7, 2007
He likes to be called "Honest Bob."
He's described as unflinching in his opinions and is best known in his native Ohio as a passionate advocate of coal mining -- so passionate that he sometimes comes across as angry.
Robert Murray, part-owner of Utah's Crandall Canyon Mine, in which six men have been trapped since early Monday, has appeared at news events over the past two days as alternately concerned and cantankerous, selfless and self-promoting.
Murray, who flew to central Utah hours after the collapse, has insisted an earthquake caused the cave-in, contrary to all early scientific appraisals.
He has blasted the news media for what he perceives as inaccuracies in the unfolding story. In one breath he expresses hope that the miners are still alive; in the next, he extols the virtues of coal, coal mining and the coal-mining industry, of which he is a major player.
Murray, 67, a fourth-generation coal miner and president of Murray Energy Corp. of Cleveland, has acted as the mining company's chief spokesman since the accident. It isn't clear whether he is helping or hurting the image of coal mining as an anachronistic and dangerous profession.
"I built the company starting with a mortgaged home; the United States of America is a great country," he said at the start of a statement Monday.
"We produce a product that is essential to the standard of living of every American, because our coal produces 52 percent of the energy in America today and it is the lowest-cost energy, costing one-third to one-fourth the cost of energy from natural gas, nuclear and renewable resources."
He went on to invite all Americans to "join me and go underground in one of our coal mines right here in Utah" to see how the industry has modernized.
He admitted he had no idea whether the trapped miners were dead or alive. "Only the Lord knows that," he said. He said there was enough air and water in the mine for the miners -- if they indeed lived through the collapse -- to survive for weeks.
Murray Energy Corp. owns mines in five states and employs 3,300 workers, including about 70 at the Crandall Canyon Mine in Utah's arid Emery County. The company is projected to bring in nearly $4.7 million in sales this year, according to Dun & Bradstreet Inc., which tracks business credit information.
According to his official biography, Murray lives in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, with his wife of 44 years, Brenda Lou Moore, and has three grown children and one deceased daughter. He holds an engineering degree from Ohio State University and a degree from Harvard's graduate school of business.
He is a Republican, a staunch supporter of President Bush and a longtime opponent of government efforts to address global warming. He frequently refers to Al Gore, whose documentary film and book titled "An Inconvenient Truth" have helped focus attention on climate change, as "the shaman of global doom and gloom."
Murray said that his own father was paralyzed in a mining accident and that he himself had survived two accidents during his years a coal miner.
Murray, who objects to being depicted as a "coal baron," sued The Akron Beacon Journal in reaction to a 2001 profile that he said was defamatory. He reportedly sought $1 billion in damages. The case was settled out of court.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-murray8aug08,1,5652543. story?coll=la-headlines-nation
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