Chapter 1, courtesy of our friends at Greenwire ($ub req'd):
The coal industry is spending tens of millions of dollars to cement support among members of Congress and the top presidential candidates in an effort to fight critics of coal-fired power and is also appealing directly to the voters those politicians need.
Why, you ask?
Turn to Chapter 2, this time from The New York Times: "Stymied in their plans to build coal-burning power plants, American utilities are turning to natural gas to meet expected growth in demand ..."
Excepts from both are below the fold. Stay tuned for Chapter 3 ...
Greenwire:
The coal industry is spending tens of millions of dollars to cement support among members of Congress and the top presidential candidates in an effort to fight critics of coal-fired power and is also appealing directly to the voters those politicians need.
TV ads in key primary states, most recently Ohio, promote coal as a clean alternative to foreign oil. "We are out there talking to everybody, from people who are running for president of the United States down to Joe Six-pack," said Joe Lucas of the industry group Americans for Balanced Energy Choices. It has paid $5 million to CNN to co-sponsor at least six presidential debates and air other network advertisements. The group expects to spend some $40 million this year, more than double its spending in 2007.
With 59 coal power plants scrapped last year, the industry wants to make sure it can emerge from the climate change debate with a guaranteed spot in the nation's energy future. The industry is shopping new uses for the fuel, such as converting it into synthetic diesel and jet fuel through a proposed group of coal-to-liquids plants.
The top presidential candidates are reluctant to draw a hard line against coal, instead advocating for government investments in new technologies to capture carbon from coal plants and store it underground.
The coal industry has given a combined $38 million to federal candidates since stepping up their climate change campaign three years ago. More than 65 percent went to Republicans, according to an analysis of campaign data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.
The New York Times:
Stymied in their plans to build coal-burning power plants, American utilities are turning to natural gas to meet expected growth in demand, risking a new upward spiral in the price of that fuel.
Utility executives say they have little choice. With opposition to coal plants rising across the country -- including a statement by three investment banks Monday saying they are wary of financing new ones -- the executives see plants fired by natural gas as the only kind that can be constructed quickly and can supply reliable power day and night.
Ask Umbra on ditching dirty things
Comments
View as Flat
randino Posted 2:48 am
29 Feb 2008
Now comes news that as part of mining Dysart, Ohio Valley Coal has discharged coal slurry into Captina Creek, turning it black for miles. Add this to Murray's rap sheet.
Coal - the closer you look, the worse it is.
Randy Cunningham
Randy Cunningham
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Delay And Deny Posted 2:55 am
29 Feb 2008
http://www.dailytech.com/Article.aspx?newsid=10630&co ...
A typical sunspot compared to the size of the earth. Sunspots have all but vanished in recent years.
Dr. Kenneth Tapping is worried about the sun. Solar activity comes in regular cycles, but the latest one is refusing to start. Sunspots have all but vanished, and activity is suspiciously quiet. The last time this happened was 400 years ago -- and it signaled a solar event known as a "Maunder Minimum," along with the start of what we now call the "Little Ice Age."
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amazingdrx Posted 3:31 am
29 Feb 2008
A scare article about the "Orwellian" nature of smart grids. And several touting global cooling. Hehey.
Jabber on oh wayward troll.
http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog
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Pompey Road Posted 9:18 am
29 Feb 2008
The Martin County Coal Slurry Spill:
An Appalachian Environmental Disaster
Kyle Jarack
On October 11, 2000, our nation suffered one of its worst environmental disasters ever, the release of over 300 million gallons of toxic waste, in the form of coal slurry, into 2 eastern Kentucky streams, which in turn polluted the Big Sandy River, and finally the mighty Ohio River. The most amazing part of this entire event was that it passed by relatively unnoticed by the general public. In this report I will correct that problem, relaying to you the background that lead to this disaster, what actually happened, and the devastating effects that the surrounding area will be feeling for years to come.
BACKGROUND
What is coal slurry?
As you probably know, coal accounts for a major portion of our nation's electric energy. It is a relatively abundant resource, and America is home to nearly 25% of the world's reserves. Table 1, below, shows the top four producers in America by state.
As you can see Kentucky is a major player in the industry, and much of its fortunes are tied to coal. The problem with coal is that it is not a particularly clean fuel to burn, and is a major contributing factor to acid rain. Around the mid-80's, the United States and Canada came up with the Clean Coal Technology Program to combat this problem. Electric companies were required to "scrub" coal before it was burned, to remove some of the impurities, which, along with air filters in the smoke stacks, lowered emissions. In turn, these electric companies began requiring cleaner coal from the coal miners, so many mining companies created "prep" plants to clean the coal. The basic process involved grinding up the coal in water, and the good coal would float, and whatever sank to the bottom was pumped out, along with the filthy water and stored in enormous storage ponds, until the mixture evaporated and could be covered up with dirt in what is called reclamation. These ponds contain billions of gallons of a black, toxic sludge, with the consistency of molasses, known as coal slurry.2 The Appalachian region is scattered with hundreds of these storage ponds that can best be described as ticking time bombs.
THE EVENTS
What Makes These Ponds so Dangerous?
The problem with these ponds relates to their enormous size, and the instability of the surrounding ground. Since most ponds are created on land owned by the mining company, which has already been mined, the surrounding terrain is often littered with old mine shafts that deteriorate the strength of bedrock, and in some cases provide an avenue for the sludge to escape its enclosure and contaminate the area. This is exactly what happened in Martin County.
What Happened?
On October 11, the roof of an abandoned shaft underneath a 70 acre storage impoundment gave way causing the sludge to race through the abandoned mine and out 2 outlets on either side of the mountain, one into the Coldwater creek and one into the Wolf creek, both of which flow into the Big Sandy river. The total amount was astronomical. Approximately 300 million gallons made it out of the impoundment and 270 million made it into the water supply. To put that in a little perspective, the following graph compares this number to the total amount of oil released into the ocean during the Exxon Valdez disaster, probably the most famous environmental disaster ever. 3
Figure 1: Martin County Slurry Vs. The Exxon Valdez
As you can see, the slurry spill was approximately 30 times bigger than that of the Valdez, yet you heard very little about it on the national news. While there was nightly footage of the oil covered ducks during the Valdez, little was made about the 20 miles of stream that was wiped out of all aquatic life. Many more miles were severely polluted. Sludge piled up 7 feet deep in areas, contaminating farmland and ruining drinking water. Many towns were forced to close down there water treatment plants because their only source was more coal than water.4
It could have been worse, the local residents where lucky that this flow of sludge was given two paths to follow, dissipating its energy. Something the residents around Buffalo Creek did not get. In the 1972, after heavy rains, a dam holding back 172 million gallons of liquid coal waste, gave way, unleashing a tidal wave of sludge through the valley. 125 people were killed, 1,100 injured, and over 4,000 left homeless. 5 It is truly amazing that this flow of 300 million resulted in no loss of human life. However, it wasn't without plenty of problems for the residents.
The Effects
What are the Residents still dealing with now, 3 years later?
At first glance, when you come to the area, things appear normal, but upon closer inspection, you find that is not the case. While vegetation has been replanted around the creeks and rivers, you can still see the rings on the trees from how high the sludge reached. Ground water was contaminated to unsafe levels; local residents are advised not to drink from their wells. The contaminated soil that was removed from their fields also happened to be fertile topsoil, and was replaced with waste dirt from the mining process, full of rock and can not be farmed. There is also the problem of human waste disposal. The spill ruined many septic tanks, and new ones can't be installed in the replaced soil yet, because it by law must settle for several years.6
There are some signs of hope, 15 species of fish have worked their way back into the streams that were completely wiped out, but it will takes many years to reach normal levels. The first phase, to clean and repair 20 miles of waterway closest to the spill is complete, but now a 5 year project to clean up 90 miles of waterway begins, and the cost is great. The spending for the cleanup is projected to cross 70 million, with the funding breaking down as follows:
Figure 2: Cleanup Expenses
7
Martin County coal has paid 45 million, but now the community is left looking for help to pay for the remaining 25 million plus that will be needed to return there homes to normal.
The spill did not have a major effect on the coal industry in Kentucky, whose output has been in decline for several years, but was not affected much by the spill as evidenced in the graph below.
Figure 2: Coal Output
The industry's steady decline continued, but did not dramatically decrease as you might expect after a disaster of these proportions.8
The government is know trying to make sure such an accident won't occur again, hoping that through improved inspections and stiffened penalties companies will take more precautions to safely store their waste. However, with our country's insatiable thirst for power, and the risks already out there, it is probably only a matter of time until this happens again.
The eons of time and nature was good to us down here. It was not until we become civilized that destroying our habitat become fathomable or fashionable.
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