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Valuing the cost of coal
There is a growing consensus among entrepreneurs
and politicians within the United States that CCT is the solution
to U.S. energy needs. It is a lucrative and profitable business
that provides ratepayers a cheap energy source to supply homes
and businesses (figure 2).
Source: DOE. Electric
Power Monthly (2007).
We must ask ourselves, why is coal so
cheap, and at what cost? Despite the hype of 'clean coal' technologies,
little attention is paid to the environmental and social health
issues that plague the coal industry.
Mountain Top Removal
The Appalachian Mountains are a set of
unique ecosystems like none other in the world. Within the Eastern
Kentucky / West Virginia, it is a "biological hotspot"
for a great number of flora and fuana species (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Biodiversity
Richness within U.S (from NatureServe 2000).
Source: ARROW
Mountain-top removal is a quick and economically
feasible method for extracting coal. However, the destruction
and pollution it causes is like resembles a war zone. The environmental
and social injustice that is occurring in this region of the U.S.
is clearly not included within the estimated cost of coal.
Source: I
Love Mountains Org. (2007)
The
Appalachians have one of the largest deposits of coal in the United
States. Although traditional underground mining still occurs throughout
the region, it is far more dangerous, time consuming, and expensive
to meet increasing demands. Mountain-top removal, also known as
strip-mining, is a technological invention that allows quick and
easy extraction of minerals. With minimal resources, mining companies
are capable of blasting away entire mountains to extract beds
of coal (Figure 3) (Reece 2006).
Figure 4. Proess
of Strip Mining.
Source: Appalachian Voices
Figure 5. Location
of mountain-tops removed in the Kentucky-West Virginia Appalachian
Mountains
Source: I
Love Mountains Org. and Google Earth © (2007)
Mountain-top removal is
one of the worse environmental and social atrocities currently
being faced in the United States. In the Appalachian Mountains
alone, hundreds of mountains have been decimated, and thousands
of streams and rivers buried (Reece 2006). Alongside particulate
dust that exceeds federal air standards, the water becomes silt
laden or toxic. Sulfuric acid, mercury, arsenic, or other harmful
pollutants leech into the streams and aquifer (Reece 2006).
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A growing problem that is threatening people's
lives are the countless coal slurry ponds.There are thousand or
so coal sludge impoundments scattered throughout Eastern Kentucky,
West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Often they are located near homes
or small towns, and contain unprecedented volumes of sludge. Dating
back to 1972, there's been over 33 reported spills, and in 2000,
Martin County, KY experienced a spill when over 200 million gallons
of sludge broke through a containment pond. Later on, the EPA
named the Martin Co. disasters as one of "the worst environmental
disaster in the Southeastern United States" (Shnayerson 2006).
Figure 7. Location of mountain-tops
removed in the Kentucky-West Virginia Appalachian Mountains
Source: I
Love Mountains Org. and Google Earth © (2007)
Figure 8. Slurry
pond diaster in Coldwater Fork, Eastern KY (2000).
Source: Appalachian
Voices (2007)
During the Clinton Administration in 1999,
federal hearings were conducted under the Clean Water Act to stop
mountain-top removal and increasing buffer zones to reduce the
filling in of streams and river (Judis 2002). After G.W. Bush
took office in 2000, one of his first initiatives was to redefine
the ruling, essentially permitted the continued destruction (Reece
2006).
The people of the Appalachian Mountains
are beginning to fight against "King Coal", but the
roots of control and corruption have run deep. To help educate
the masses and to show the true scale of the issues faced, the
"Ilovemountains" non-profit organization created a map
on Google Earth© to help visualize the loss of mountains
and location of the hazardous containment ponds (See figure 5
& 7).
Since the first electrical
plant was built, the mining of coal has been a necessity to generate
the electricity needs of the country. Even today, the use of coal-fired
power plants generates the most electricity for the United States
(Figure 8), and it is still a growing and profitable business.
There is no security risk, and it will still be abundant when
the oil stops flowing. Thus, to stop Mountain-top removal will
require an informed and concerned society demanding greater urgency
for sustainable and renewable and energies. Just as important,
there needs to be more stringent checks-and-balances within government
to ensure safety regulations are in place and appropriately utilized.
Figure 8. U.S.
energy infrastructure by sector.
Source: Electric Power Monthly
(2007).
Global Warming
& Pollution
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was formed
in 1990 to determine if climate change is related to enhanced
greenhouse gasses. After a decade of intensive research, they
announced in 2001 that "there is new and stronger evidence
that most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributed
to human activities" (figure 5) (Rosenthal & Revkin 2007).
Figure 9. Representation
of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (IPCC, 2001)
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The statement by the IPCC
could cause dramatic impact to the future of the coal industry
since the emissions from coal-combustion contribute the
largest source of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere (Freese
& Clemmer 2006) (figure 10). Thus, future regulations
of GHG emissions will likely fall most heavily on the coal
industry.
Figure 10.
Map depicting sources for carbon dioxide emissions (IPCC
2001).
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Another import concern is
the health risk for the people who live in the vicinity of coal-combusted
facilities. According to the Clean Air Task Force, they reported
that across the U.S. nearly 30,000 people die due to coal-fired
power plants (Reece 2006). Florida is no exception, and the exposure
of toxic air downwind is reflecting the health issues of the people
who live near the facilities (Figure 11).
Figure 11. Map
depicting deaths attributed to toxic emissions within the U.S.(Source:
Clear the Air
).
In response to these
issues, utility companies and government agencies are spending
resources for research and
development (R&D) on less polluting coal plants. In Florida,
ex-governor Jeb Bush announced a $235 million government funded
plan to develop clean coal technologies (Secretary Abraham Announces
$235 Million for Florida Clean Coal Plant, 2004). To date there
are a several types of advanced facilities, and they all boast
claiming low levels of air particulates, Nox and Sox, and other
hazardous compounds. Although this is the first big step to improving
air quality standards, they are inefficient in generating electricity,
and even the best technologies do not capture carbon dioxide (McMullan,
et al. 1997).
Despite the available 'green'
and renewable technologies currently available, a market transformation
in the U.S. energy infrastructure is not likely to change in the
near future. Currently there is a war between the environmentalists
and capitalists, and it is the current administration's policy
to insolate and protect the jobs of 'yesterday' rather than create
the jobs of the future. The coal experts and government say that
technology has cleaned up coal, and when referring to old and
outdated facilities, this is relatively true. However, even in
the newest of technologies many of the pollutants are still there,
they're just covered up better.
Bibliography
Electric Power Monthly:
January 2007 (2007).
<http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/epm_sum.html>
(2007, February 01).
Freese, B., and S.
Clemmer (2006). Gambling With Coal: How future climate laws will
Make new coal power plants more
expensive.
< http://www.ucsusa.org/assests/documnets/clean_energy
> (2007, February 1).
Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (2001).Climate Change 2001: IPCC third
assessment report. UNEP/GRID-Arendal.
Judis, J.B. (2002).
King Coal: Guess Who's Bushwhacking the environment for votes?
The American Prospect, 13(22).
Mcmullen, J., B.
Williams, E. Sloan (1997). Clean Coal Technologies. Proceedings
Institution of Mechanical Engineers 211(A).
Reece, E. (2006).
Lost Mountain: Radical Strip Mining and the Devastation of
Appalachia. New York: Penguin Group.
Rosenthal, E., and
A. Revkin (2007, February 3). Science Panels Calls Global Warming
'Unequivocal'. IPCCs fourth assessment
of global warming. New York Times. < http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/03/science/earth
> (2007, February 14).
Secretary Abraham
Announces $235 Million for Florida Clean Coal Plant (2004).
< http://www.fossil.energy.gov/news/techlines/2004/tl_ccpi2_southerco.html
> (2007, February, 10).
Shnayerson, M. (May
2006). The Rape of Appalachia. <http://www.vanityfair.com>
(2007, February 13).
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