Robert Pate v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, United States Department of Labor, and Sahara Coal Company

POSNER, Circuit Judge.

This appeal by a former coal miner denied a claim for benefits under the Black Lung Benefits Act, 30 U.S.C. §§ 901 et seq., requires us to interpret the word “comparable” in the section that provides that a miner “shall be considered totally disabled when pneumoconiosis [black-lung disease] prevents him or her from engaging in gainful employment requiring the skills and abilities comparable to those of any employment in a mine or mines in which he or she previously engaged with some regularity and over a substantial period of time.” 30 U.S.C. § 902(f)(1)(A). The statute…