Coal is Dirty From Start to Finish

As I and many others have reported here on Huffington Post, on December 22nd, at 12:30 a.m., a containment wall holding back 50 years worth of toxic coal ash gave way. The sludge rushed into the Emory River, creating a 20 foot tall wave of waste and water that proceeded to overtake 400 acres of land, ruining homes and permanently changing the lives of residents of Harriman, TN.

Coal combustion waste is not usually part of the conversation when the environmental impacts of coal are discussed. Traditionally, most of the "life cycle of coal" is excluded; most politicians, environmental groups, and mainstream media focus on what comes out of the smokestack.

Little attention is paid to where the coal comes from, like mountaintop removal coal mining , or to the waste created after the coal is burned. That focus has created stronger laws focusing on decreasing air pollution, by demanding that coal-burning utilities place stronger scrubbers on their operations, thereby making dirty coal "somewhat cleaner" to burn.

According to the law of conservation, once matter is created, it cannot be destroyed, but it can be re-arranged. Coal that is burned leaves waste behind, known as coal ash. The "cleaner" coal burns, the dirtier its waste, since toxins that would have been released into the atmosphere are now concentrated into the waste product.

Its important to note that all steps in the life cycle of coal wreck communities, from Appalachian coalfield residents watching their mountains being destroyed, to urban areas thick from smokestack pollution, to the incident in Harriman, TN.

So, if the mining of coal is dirty, the burning of coal is dirty, and the waste left over from burning and processing coal is dirty, what's the solution?

We need to Power Past Coal. We need to expose the truth that coal is dirty, and plug into new power.

Power Past Coal is a project of a loosely connected network of diverse organizations all across America who are working on energy and social justice issues.

Organizations fighting to defend their land from harmful mining practices, stopping new coal-fired power plants, or campaigning for a new energy policy agreed to launch a project together that could bring attention to the urgency of and connections between our efforts.

By identifying and publicizing 100 days of independent actions, we will highlight a narrative that shows both the problems with and solutions to our current energy policy. By joining together, we raise the profile of and add value to our individual campaigns.

The loose structure of this project is based on the philosophy of Paul Hawken, author of Blessed Unrest who wrote,

"Groups ranging from ad hoc neighborhood associations to well-funded international organizations are confronting issues like the destruction of the environment [and] social justice. They share no orthodoxy or unifying ideology... they remain supple enough to coalesce easily into larger networks to achieve their goals."

Coal is dirty and outdated, from the extraction process to its waste disposal. You cannot make coal cleaner, you can only make parts of its process cleaner, but the toxins do not go away. It would go against the laws of physics.

We need to clean up our act. Coal won't end tomorrow, but we need to transition away from our dirty past, and invest in a clean energy future. We need to start with energy efficiency and conservation, because the United States is the Saudia Arabia of energy waste.

Once we do that, technologies like wind, solar, and geothermal, which leave a much smaller footprint on on the planet, become feasible.

We need to dramatically change the course of our energy future and we need to do it now. If not, we will continue to expose communities to land-destroying mining practices, pollution-belching smokestacks, and water-damaging coal combustion waste.

Comments

[onenation]

Nothing is without consequences. Whose back yard do we mess with? Farmers dodge wind farm poles. Transmission line will go through somebody's yard. Do we gota pay someone to built the wind farm and just take the land for the requirements. Lets make sure that LOCAL people have REAL input. Not a crude vito power, but we have to be local and personal.

[lilbirdblue]

Thanks so much for writing this blog and please continue to educate people. We can't let this go (the TN spill) Things like this have been happening for YEARS.... the Buffalo creek "flood" was a spill that happened over 30 years ago and KILLED over 100 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Creek_Flood

Two great ways to start getting involved...signing these petitions....

http://action.earthjustice.org/campaign/deny_powellton
https://secure2.convio.net/sierra/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1345

This is a great website to keep you informed http://www.ohvec.org/

[plantguy]

Coal is what helped build this country we have today and now people wants to end the use of coal and put wind farms in our back yards. Do u understand how many jobs coal creates like power plant workers, miners, truck drivers,river boat crews, drywall plant workers and security jobs. Once the windmills are built and installed they require very few employees to moniter and operate them. Our own people are putting americans out of work every day.
Maybe these people so concerned about coal being dirty should quit using all their toys and conserve energy . I guess all these people that support their familys by means of coal can get a job flippin burgers and count on the goverment to help send their children to college. Thanks alot!

[onenation]

Yes, All aspects need to be allowed entry into the discussion. Wind has some clear limitations. Nuclear has many issues for and against. And coal needs real examination..

[mamacat]

Calling a spade a spade (can we still use that phrase?), the Republicans have continually blocked efforts to develop alternative energy in this country, first when they had a majority in the Congress, and then through use of the 60 vote cloture rule in the Senate.

By the way, the author did not put up a graph for the potential through the development of geothermal power. There is a lot of "low-hanging-fruit" in that category, that is just waiting to be developed. May I point out that more than 50% of all of the geothermally produced electricity on the face of the planet comes from just one area, The Geysers, north of San Francisco. There is huge potential from this source that has as yet been overlooked. It is about as clean as one get get, and can operate 24 hours per day, whether there is wind or not, whether the sun is in the sky or not.

[OhioPoBoy]

We get 2/3 of our electricity from coal. Those of us who live in coal states have seen what that power costs. I grew up near a beautiful stream that suddenly turned orange one day and killed all the fish. That was the natural state of things in a coal county that was pretty much controlled by Consol coal. Any complaints and you were a job-killing, liberal, panty-waist who wanted to end American jobs. Of course, the jobs were killing coal miners every day and what was once a pretty place was turning into a desolate moonscape of spoil banks and strip mines. In neighboring West Virginia, the mountain state, they tear the tops off of mountains to capture a few thosand dollars of profitable coal and then push the mountain over into the streams and valleys of what was once "almost Heaven." It is rapidly becoming 'almost Hell." Americans have no idea what their consumption has done to this country. While we waste the wind and the sunshine, our TV sets glow from the power the rape of the land brings us. We deserve the America that we create.

[Pandonodrim]

I'm not religious, but all I can say to that is: Amen!