What happens when I turn on the light switch? Part 1 · Nov 2 by Kurt Peterson
We’ve all heard the spin on energy. How we need more. How we’re going to get it. And all the political wrangling that each source for our energy needs is better than the last. We’ll continue to hear it more as the 2008 election season continues to ramp up speed. And again and again, I’ve heard the term “clean coal” thrown around. The idea behind clean coal varies, but most involve scrubbers and filtration systems designed to reduce the amount of airborne particulate matter like nitrogen oxides, mercury, and sulfuric acid—all sources of pollution everyone would like to see eliminated. And it makes clean coal sound like a nice, happy, shiny, and viable solution. Almost.
The process of burning coal may be getting cleaner, but the more prolific process of its extraction is nothing short of an environmental abomination. Mountains with large veins of precious coal exist throughout much of the southern Appalachian mountains including Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, but especially in West Virginia. Few states in America are as rural and ultimately as low income as West Virginia, which helps the coal mining industry. More rural makes the impact harder to see. Less per capita income makes it harder to stand up to the industry. And it’s here that mountaintop removal happens most and its impact is greatest. Mountaintop removal, as the name implies, is easy to visualize but hard to understand. Coal companies clear cut a mountain, blast up to 600-800 feet of the mountains elevation off the top, then shove this “fill” into surrounding valleys and streams.
Over the decades, mountaintop removal has continued unabated even after the effects become horrific and mind boggling. And these disasters continue to occur. Ironically, these events receive very little media attention yet, in my humble opinion, they rank a wee bit higher on the importance scale than other environmental threats.
Visit The Daily Kos for more information or visit www.ilovemountains.org to do something.
And tune in later for a little more on how to save a mountain . . .
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