THE DOWNSIDE OF COAL

Because it seemed disrespectful to families of men who lost their lives in the pursuit of it, NewEnergyNews has withheld comment on coal mining. Now that the blather is bursting forth, NewEnergyNews must acknowledge the importance of the discussion.

It does not have to be like this. There are New Energy alternatives. We should be moving toward them with at least as much intensity as those rescuers were drilling those holes. New Energy is the ultimate rescue effort.

What It Costs Us
Jeff Goodell, August 26, 2007 (Washington Post)

WHO
Coal miners; Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr; Mine Co-owner Robert Murray;

Robert Murray, owner/operator of the Crandall Canyon coal mine. NewEnergyNews covered a Senate subcommittee hearing at which he testified this past spring. He denied the importance of dealing with climate change and refused to acknowledge his poor safety record as a mine owner. Perhaps he will eventually answer to a higher justice.

WHAT
The Crandall Canyon coal mine cave-in and subsequent rescue-effort disaster opens up the discussion of coal-mining and coal as an energy source.

WHEN
The first Crandall Canyon coal mine cave-in was August 6. The second was August 16.

WHERE
The Crandall Canyon coal mine is in Huntington, Utah.

WHY
- The US burns 1 billion+ tons of coal/year in power plants for electricity.
- Murray, who believes global warming is a hoax, claims the cave-in was caused by seismic activity whereas seismologists agree the seismic activity was the result of the cave-in.
- The commonly bantered idea that the US has a 250-year supply of coal is inaccurate, thought there is an abundance. But the country will pay a steep price in miner deaths, Appalachian environmental degradation and terrible emissions if it chooses to depend on it. Mountain-top removal coal mines have already buried 700 miles of streams and 400,000 acres of forests.
- “Clean coal” is nothing but a pipe dream of coal advocates and an oxymoron.
- From the Union of Concerned Scientists: 1 year emissions from an average coal plant are 10,000 tons of sulfur dioxide (acid rain), 10,200 tons of nitrogen oxide (smog), 500 tons of small particles (lung damage, respiratory pathology), 225 pounds of arsenic (the poison), 114 pounds of lead (the stuff they’re trying to get out of old buildings because of the brain damage to kids) and many toxic metals including 170 pounds of mercury (birth defects, brain damage, etc.). This is the successful “cleaning” of coal politicians point to when they advocate for solving emissions problems by doing so. (NewEnergyNews: Conclusion left to reader.)
- The coal industry is getting billions in tax breaks and subsidies to study “clean coal.” Climate change specialists like James Hansen of NASA and Al Gore say no more new coal plants until “clean coal” (also called carbon-capture-and-sequestration or CCS) technology is proven. Silicon Valley is working on it.

All non-renewables run out eventually. The sooner we move to renewables, the sooner we cut our losses. And think how much easier it will be to rescue wind turbine workers who find themselves in danger while bringing electricity to you.

QUOTES
- Huntsman: "This is a defining moment for the history of mining…We all expect to come out of this better and smarter and safer."
- Goodell, student of the coal industry: “…if history is any guide, straightforward answers to what happened in Utah will be as rare as oxygen in the collapsed mine. We can expect a hue and cry about mine safety on Capitol Hill, a lot of blame-shifting and finger-pointing and, most likely, some modest mine safety improvements. But you can bet that you won't hear much about the real issue, which is the high cost of the United States' dependence on coal, and whether it's worth the price we pay.”
- Goodell: “The lesson from Crandall Canyon is not just that we need stronger mine safety laws and better federal oversight of dangerous mines, but that as Americans, we need to be more conscious of the costs and consequences of what goes on behind the light switch. Otherwise, instead of coming out of this disaster smarter, stronger and safer, we're likely to find ourselves repeating this story again and again.”