I agree with 90% of what you wrote but need to take a few exceptions.

As you indicate, it is not only important, I say critical, to learn from prior accidents such as this. Actually, I was trying to get more information about this particular accident, to learn whatever I could at this early stage, when I came across this website. Discussing the risks and learning from prior accidents in an independent, fact-based manner is always appropriate. (It’s the main technique I’ve used to keep my co-workers safe for my entire career.) But that is not path this article took, and no one can argue otherwise. Let’s review the quote,
“Fossil fuels are not safe. They are not safe for our planet, they are not safe for our communities, and they are not safe for the workers inside of their power plants. This is not the first power plant explosion, this will not be the last. It is time for America to commit to a clean and safe energy economy – where our friends and neighbors can work in green jobs that give good wages and safe working environments.”
That is politicized prose. It assumes that “green jobs” will always be “safe”. Its purpose is to equate injuries and death solely with fossil fuels and suggest that all green energy will always be in “safe working environments.” It is disengenuous at best; a politicized, self-serving lie, using the lives of 5 people without consent, at worst.

No where did I say that NG is renewable; no where did I indicate that NG is a long term answer. My only point, made rather harshly I’ll admit, is that the viewpoint professed is one borne of ignorance because all sources of energy, including renewables, have associated risks that must be dealt with.

You’re right of course, there is a value judgment to be made. We must make those judgments based on facts and not with the rhetoric of this article and some its supporting comments.

Finally, in support of Rmarg’s last comment, you are falling into a common trap. Every plane crash is reported widely, but 1000 people a year dying in commercial aviation is an AWFUL year. There have been many years with no deaths. Tragic reports of families being wiped out in car accidents are not widely reported. And yet most people believe that flying is more dangerous than driving. The trap is that everyone hears about plane crashes, very few about car fatalites; thus, without adequate information, our brain incorrectly weighs the risks and develops the wrong conclusion.

Links to Russian hydro disaster: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE57G3OQ20090817
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/09/the_sayanoshushenskaya_dam_acc.html