Dirty Coal

The use of Coal in fueling electrical plants has been a significant practice in our recent history. The economic growth during the past century would not have been possible without this black resource and its generated power. As awesome as this power seems, we can no longer remain ignorant of the true costs of coal-fired power production.

An Origin Story-

Some of coal’s most horrendous damage is done well before we are ever able to turn on a light switch. Coal mines utilize a multitude of techniques in extracting the raw material from the earth. All of these methods have a significant impact not only on the environment, but on humanity itself.

Coal surface mining eradicates all existing vegetation, displaces wildlife, depletes soil of nutrients, and poisons our air, all while permanently reshaping acres of our Nation’s already few natural landscapes. The rubble and refuse from these mines poisons our water supplies, not only harming native plants and animals, but crippling the neighboring communities with the introduction of toxins in their drinking water.

Perhaps the most culpable practice of coal extraction is that of mountaintop removal. Mountaintop removal is the practice of literally blowing up entire mountains to gain access to veins of coal only inches thick. The Appalachians of the south east have lost roughly 500 mountains in past years. The remaining rubble left, after separating out all the coal, is then dumped into the valleys and streams of the Appalachians, leaving a flat, lifeless landscape in place of the once healthy mountain’s ecosystem. This rubble often contains heavy metals and toxins that have for centuries been locked up in the mountain’s stone. These toxic materials seep into the streams and poison the neighboring mining communities of Appalachia. In their Mid-Atlantic Regional Assessment, the Environmental Protection Agency states:

“The impact of mountaintop removal on nearby communities is devastating. Dynamite blasts needed to splinter rock strata are so strong they crack the foundations and walls of houses. Mining dries up an average of 100 wells a year and contaminates water in others. In many coalfield communities, the purity and availability of drinking water are keen concerns.”

The economy of these coal field communities have also been stagnated and crippled by these mining practices. The highly mechanized process of mountaintop shrinks the need for a labor force. In West Virginia alone, over 100,000 mining jobs have been lost since the 1950’s, and yet the mining industry has continued to be productive and profitable. It’s striking how much wealth has been extracted from these hills while the coal fields of Appalacia have become one of the most impoverished regions in America. Recently, Dr. Michael Hendryx, of West Virginia University, released a report showing that while coal may bring 8 billion dollars to the West Virginian coal communities, the human health effects of mountaintop removal amount to a cost of $42 billion dollars a year. This is an unsustainable deficit, and cripples the good people of Appalachians ability to live happy, healthy lives.

The Poison in the Well-

Once mined and shipped to the power plants, coal’s damage is then distributed across the United States. When coal is burned, the emissions of the combustion contain a multitude of toxins (67 known) and greenhouse gasses.

Mercury, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter are some of the worst neurotoxins and carcinogens set into the air with coal fired power production. These toxins are especially harmful to children and the elderly. Increases in asthma and respiratory disease have been linked to coal power plants. 94% of our nation’s utility-related sulfur dioxide emissions, and 87% of U.S. utility-related nitrogen oxide emissions come from coal fired power plants. Particulate matter has been linked to 24,000 premature deaths annually, including 2,800 from lung cancer. Coal plants are the largest source of mercury pollution in the United states, responsible for 98% of the utility-related emissions. One in six childbearing mothers have mercury levels high enough to cause a multitude of birth defects ranging from learning disabilities to fetal malformations. 600,000 infants are born each year with unhealthy levels of mercury within their fragile bodies.

Burning our Future-

While some prominent figures in American culture may remain unconvinced, the numbers have been tallied and debate is over; global climate change is a reality we must confront head on in these coming years. Substantial cultural shifts must be made to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, increase electrical efficiency, and restore prudence as a common value to our society.

Over one-fourth of our country’s annual greenhouse gas emissions originate from coal fired power plants (including over 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide). The task of converting these power generation sites to alternative or more efficient technologies is daunting, and therefore more urgent than ever before. In 2006 there were 1,493 coal fired power plants in the United States, supplying roughly half of all our electrical power.

The human causalities of our changing climate have already become common statistics. A portion of the good people of Papa New Guinea have become refugees to the rising oceans. Native populations in Alaska are also being forced to leave their historic land for higher ground. California, and the greater south west is in the middle of multi-year droughts. Regions of Africa are running out of water, and civil wars and unrest have been breaking out for years.

All of us have a responsibility to come together and cooperatively restore our earth’s fragile balance. As Christians, we have the opportunity and the duty to work for healing, and reconciliation. The political polarization dispensed by our culture’s talking heads and doctors of spin cannot be apathetically accepted as truth.

I would just like to take this oppurtunity to encourage everyone to take the time to read Rusty Pritchard most recent blog post to Sustainlane.com. His write up on the workings of the American Values Network really point out some problems we will be facing in the upcomming years. If a movement to reform the coal industry in the United States has any chance of being successful in a timely manner, polarization must be overcome.