The coal truth

A tragedy in Utah and everywhere else, too 5

Coal is the enemy of the human race, Salon edition:

This is the great paradox today: In an age of global warming and greater energy and safety awareness, we are also witnessing the great coal revival. Nearly 50 percent of our electricity still comes from coal -- the very energy that runs our computers on which we read this story, or our televisions on which we watch the latest reports of cameras snaking down into the mine in Utah in search of survivors. And as our dependency on foreign oil has spilled into the politics of global warfare, dirty coal has been repackaged as "clean coal" by the current Bush administration, which has championed the growth of coal-based power. The administration has done so with an alliance of congressional supporters on both sides of the aisle. There appears to be no real commitment at this point toward renewable or non-fossil-fuel sources of energy.

The abuse of coal miners has always gone hand in hand with the abuse of the land and environment; my grandfather's own dirt farm in the southern Illinois hills was strip-mined a quarter century after his death. (In fact, the first commercial strip-mining in Illinois began more than a century and a half ago.) Coal mining has destroyed more than 475 mountains, a million acres of hardwood forests, and a thousand miles of waterways through strip-mining. The devastating process of mountaintop removal in Appalachia (West Virginia, Kentucky and parts of Tennessee) -- literally, toppling mountain ridges into valleys and waterways with massive machinery to procure the coal -- has eroded swaths of land, leaving parts of the region vulnerable to water contamination and massive floods. Moreover, the nation's power plants, 618 of which are coal-fired, contribute a substantial quantity of our nation's carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and mercury emissions.

Here is the raw truth: The great coal revival of today should be seen for what it really is -- a great coal crisis, both aboveground and below. Neither workplace safety nor mountaintop removal should be taken casually until the next disaster strikes.

Coal mining is emblematic of our nation's failed energy policy.The drama unfolding in Utah is one of its latest reckonings; coal miners and their communities continue to pay the highest personal price. Until the Bush White House, Congress and our coal-dependent citizenry make genuine steps toward shifting our energy policy to renewable sources that not only sustain our energy demands but also our local economic needs, it is nothing short of a crime to deny our coal mining communities the best possible protection from accidents and the repercussions of strip-mining.

Kate Sheppard is Grist’s political reporter.

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  1. justlou Posted 11:31 pm
    15 Aug 2007

    The Final Plateau

    Classic case of pushing technological plateaus.  While exploiting coal we have encountered several plateaus while mining and burning it for heat and electrical power.  We have become used to breaking the boundaries though some means of technological "progress".  Now, we encounter the ultimate plateau -- global warming.  Following the trend would resign us to finding more tech "solutions" while the wisest choice would take the commandment from the mountaintop -- "Get Off the Coal!".  A lot of money and power rides on keeping us on the mountaintop while the base of the mountain crumbles beneath our feet.  Beating a hasty retreat is the best survival tactic when we face such dire odds.  Ironic and sad as it is, we'll be using coal to help us off the mountain.  But do we need to be developing new coal fired plants to do so?  The transition scenario looks a lot like the old status quo scenario.

    And how about Southern Illinois coal:

    "Coal power plant has funding, officials say" http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/illinoi ...

    "PEABODY ENERGY: ANATOMY OF A BAD CORPORATE CITIZEN"
    http://missouri.sierraclub.org/PressReleases/pr2005/Peabo ...

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  2. TheGreenMiles Posted 1:25 am
    16 Aug 2007

    Switch your electricity to renewable

    I just converted by electricity to renewable energy.  Everyone who can afford it (and it's only a difference of hundreds, not thousands, of dollars) should call their power company to do the same.

    Read more of my rants on global warming, recycling, and organic beer at The Green Miles!

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  3. WWAGD?!'s avatar

    WWAGD?! Posted 2:09 am
    16 Aug 2007

    Revolution in Solar-Hydrogen

    http://news.sawf.org/Health/41209.aspx

    The prospect for the wide spread use of hydrogen as a portable energy carrier is dependent on finding a clean, renewable method of production. At Penn State University, a research group headed by professor of electrical engineering Craig Grimes in the Materials Research Institute is "only a couple of problems away" from developing an inexpensive and easily scalable technique for water photoelectrolysis - the splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen using light energy - that could help power the proposed hydrogen economy.

    John Bailo
    Supratext:

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  4. WWAGD?!'s avatar

    WWAGD?! Posted 2:13 am
    16 Aug 2007

    It's A Power Line! No, it's a Conduit...No...It's.

    SUPERGRID!!

    A Power Grid for the Hydrogen Economy
    Cryogenic, superconducting conduits could be connected into a "SuperGrid" that would simultaneously deliver electrical power and hydrogen fuel

    http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&colID=1 ...

    We are part of a growing group of engineers and physicists who have begun developing designs for a new energy delivery system we call the Continental SuperGrid. We envision the SuperGrid evolving gradually alongside the current grid, strengthening its capacity and reliability. Over the course of decades, the SuperGrid would put in place the means to generate and deliver not only plentiful, reliable, inexpensive and "clean" electricity but also hydrogen for energy storage and personal transportation.

    Engineering studies of the design have concluded that no further fundamental scientific discoveries are needed to realize this vision. Existing nuclear, hydrogen and superconducting technologies, supplemented by selected renewable energy, provide all the technical ingredients required to create a SuperGrid. Mustering the social and national resolve to create it may be a challenge, as will be some of the engineering. But the benefits would be considerable, too.

    John Bailo
    Supratext:

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  5. LGT Posted 11:19 am
    25 Feb 2008

    Mining Sets Off Earthquake in Germany

    An earthquake caused by coal mining shook the Saarland region of Germany on the French border Saturday.

    http://feww.wordpress.com/2008/02/24/mining-sets-off-eart ...

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