Last week, The Green group hosted an insightful and informative chat between Gather members and Director David Novack on the coal industry. Novack wrote and directed Burning the Future: Coal in America, a documentary that examines the explosive forces that have set in motion a groundswell of conflict between the coal industry and residents of West Virginia. Every eleven and one half days, the explosive equivalent of the Hiroshima atomic bomb is unleashed upon the mountains of southern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky for coal.According to Novack, "coal fired power accounts for 50% of our electricity and coal is burned in almost every state."
Join us this Wednesday, May 21st @ 4PM ET to continue the great debate about coal. Whether you are for it, or against it, your questions and view points are welcome. This week's live chat with David Novack will take place in the comment field of this article. If you can't make it, leave a question for David in the comment field by scrolling to the end of this article.
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Comments: 91
I was impressed that people were all civil in this chat last week. Often those who disagree with others can get bitter in conversation.
David,
Thanks for coming back for another live chat.
God Bless Coal Miners
I grew up in West Virginia, one of the most beautiful places on earth. Even though I have not lived there for over 30 years, part of me still is a West Virginian. One thing I still don't understand is how anyone can obtain a permit to destroy a mountain? What in the world are we thinking?
Another thing that puzzles me is all rhetoric about "cheap" coal. Wasn't it the Republicans who always wanted to consider the true cost of regulation? I would truly like to see the "true" costs of using coal -- including public health, air/water quality degradation, the watershed impact, etc, etc., etc.
Just some of my thoughts.
"If you aren't outraged, you haven't been paying attention."
I'm happy to be back and looking forward to logging in at 4:00. Thanks for joining again.
My husband is a coal miner and has been for some 25 years or so. Not all those years have been with the same company.
He currently works for the company who owned "Sago Mine" when those men were killed.
What about the use of coal in steel, pharmaceuticals, etc?
the water tested on the reclaimed portion of the surface mine was BETTER Quality water than it was before they surface mined it.
"Wind resources in this country are huge, and the former mountaintop removal sites are perfect for wind power. In addition, solar and wind parts can be manufactured and/or assembled in the coal mining areas - the train lines are all there. The engineering schools in WV are wonderful and a new generation of renewable energy engineers can be trained there. "
You are talking about years down the road. Most of the miners are older. They do not have years to train or to learn a new skill. Yes, If the plan you are suggesting, were in place now - the younger generation could and would be trained. But what about those men who are in their late 40's. They would just be out of a job because mining is all they know.
I am sure that their are many mine owners who try to "make money" at the cost of the environment. I do not argue that case. I also know that "all" of the coal mine owners are not like that.
The only real way to achieve the closeure of the coal fields is for people to "stop using electric". Is this not CURRENTLY true?
> the Hiroshima atomic bomb is unleashed upon the mountains
> of southern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky for coal.
I was unsure if this was alluding to the radioactive nulcides that
are in coal, and released to the air when coal is burned at scatter
many orders of magnitude more radiation father and in a form
more likely to contact other living things than the worst nuclear
disasters.
Besides the environmental effects, and the CO2, as well as sulphur,
and other polluting and toxic elements and compounds coal has
a lot of radioactivity in it the we should think about when we compare
all forms of electicity generation.
The state of West Virginia requires the surface mines to reclaim as they move farther up the trail. If they don't, they will be shut down immediately.
David -- my question: Are you familiar with alternatives that are not yet in the mainstream media? What are they and do you think they're viable?
http://www.intlcoal.com/pages/news/2008/20070114.pdf
If a mine closes down without reclaiming the land first. That coal company can NEVER get any more permits to mine in West Virginia. Never!
"Scott Depot, West Virginia, January 14, 2008 - International Coal Group, Inc.
(NYSE: ICO) today announced that its ICG Eastern subsidiary received the state
of West Virginia's highest honor for environmental excellence in coal mining.
The Greenlands Award was presented to ICG Eastern's Birch River surface
mine in Webster County, West Virginia, for overall outstanding environmental
stewardship in its ongoing mining and reclamation efforts in 2007 by the West
Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) at the 35th West
Virginia Coal Mining annual symposium on Jan. 11, 2008.
At a recent awards ceremony, the WVDEP praised the Birch River Mine Complex
for taking steps above and beyond what is required by state and federal
regulations to assure proper handling of overburden and elimination of pre-law
environmental problems in the mining area. The complex has achieved an
outstanding level of environmental protection since its development in 1992 and
has consistently kept reclamation concurrent with its ongoing mining operations,
according to the WVDEP."
The notion of reclaiming is really a red herring. It's up to regulators to enforce it, and they don't enforce the spirit of the law. they enforce the letter...which is to say if you spray hydroseed and compact the earth as much as possible and plant a few trees, the land is reclaimed. But you can't look at a reclaimed site and compare it to what was there and ever claim that it is as good as or better than what was there before. What IS there is a good as it can be made. That's not reclaiming in my book. The law is very gray.
I am completely against using coal, as soon as we can replace it with more sustainable and healthy energy sources. The alternative sources include wind, solar, hydroelectric and geothermal power…Unfortunately, in the US, we are wasting huge amounts of money with tax relief for corn ethanol production. This, too, is bad for the environment.
So, how easy is it going to be to get rid of the corn ethanol subsidies and put resources into truly valuable alternative energy sources?
http://burningthefuture.blogspot.com.
West Virginians are mostly made up of low income families. The coal mine in Webster County, where I live, is the highest source of income in our area. It is a surface mine. There are no deep mines in my county. If this coal mine was to be shut down. The economy would suffer greatly. The coal mine donates money to many nonprofit organizations in our town.
The next highest paid source of income is the Education department, teachers, bus drivers etc. If the coal mine is shut down, the families would be forced to move somewhere else. The Schools would loose children, thus teachers would be laid off for lack of children.
Then the grocers would have to lay off workers because there would be less families to sell items too......
the list goes on and on.
It is an hour drive from my county to the nearest interstate. The workers cannot afford to drive from here to another job in another area.
See my dilemma?
I dont really understand your question. I have been typing my heart out and am lost on the conversation. I will scroll up and read more.
David Novack thank you for joining us again for yet another intriguing chat.
Gather members thank you for your participation and for engaging us in such an interesting discussion. We appreciate all of your perspectives!!!
I certainly understand your dilemma and there are no easy answers. What breaks my heart is that the Coal operators have set up a false choice...surface mining vs. no jobs. Those are not the only two answers, but they just happen to be the most profitable for the coal operators and for the State. I'd love to discuss this more with you via email.
Shannon
But I really hear the difficult situation that any talk of reduction of surfacing causes you. By the way, there is underground coal in Webster, it's just expensive to get to, more expensive than MTR.
Can I suggest you reach out to OHVEC and begin a dialogue with them? Be part of drawing a new plan for your kids and your neighbors kids so they can stay? A bunch of towns in west texas that were dying just put in wind plants and now kids are moving back for clean, well paying jobs that everyone feels good about....I'd be happy to help.
David,
Thanks so much for the great debates. I enjoyed viewing your program on the Sundance channel.
There have been deep mines in Webster county in the past but there currently are none working
My regards,
David.
Thanks so much for your great debates. I enjoyed them last week and this week.
I missed this afternoon because I had a prior engagement.
I came to read this chat tonight, intending to comment that I was sorry I had missed the discussion this afternoon.
But after reading the same selfish remarks from the same commentor from last week, I am glad I missed this.
I just cut out a huge part of my comments.
Let me say this instead.
Before I came here last week I was already offended by reading the comments of this person, all over gather.
Me, the one who usually stands up for the rights of EVERYONE to express their opinions.
I read this chat and understand half of what is wrong with our country.....
This selfish, tunnel vision that doesn't even look out for themselves or their loved ones. Truly I am sickened.
Please pardon me for venting. I have a very low tolerance for people who put a pay check before the safety of everyone else.
I think it is reasonable and natural for many in WV to fear the loss of coal-related jobs. We all have to eat. I was glad to see the reference to the Texas community that has rebuilt with wind power. Those who aren't in a good location for solar power at home may be able to use wind power. However, big installations are what we need, and there is no reason why they should be put in WV (among other places) to preserve jobs while cleaning up our energy issues.
Thanks all!