The Upper Big Branch mine disaster was just the start of the problems Appalachia would begin to face. Massey's CEO, Blankenship, was once a beloved coal giant in the Appalachian region. Coal country has been growing ever so hostile since the tragedy at UBB and from past allegations concerning Blankenship and the Tug Fork coal slurry conspiracy. It is no secret, coal jobs have been hemorrhaging since the development of new mining technology in the early 90's as well. Longwall mining technology is the most productive method of coal mining. After the UBB disaster, coal companies have increased their efforts to engineer safer and more reliable mining equipment. The graph to the right represents the fact that since the improvement of mining technology coal production has increased while the employment rate has decreased substantially. Soon after the 2010 incident at Upper Big Branch both coal production and employment has plummeted. Appalachia has suffered tremendously both economically and socially. The people are fleeting the once rich and colorful coal towns to find better opportunities for themselves. This can explain much of the extreme poverty levels in the coal field regions of Appalachia. In Southwest Virginia, 15 counties alone have had declining population levels since 2010. West Virginia is at the forefront of this statistic. Appalachia has also been effected politically. Politically, the majority of coal country has voted democratic since the civil war, this is changing. Appalachia has predominantly started to vote republican since the 90's. Since the 2010 disaster at UBB, Appalachia has almost completely began to vote republican in hopes of securing a positive future for the region, although there are some democratic voters still in Appalachia. Its detrimental to see how coal effects the Appalachian regions. These negative impacts have only been strengthened since the tragedy at Upper Big Branch in 2010.