Emerson, considered by many people to be the founding
father of the conservation movement with his 1836 treatise on nature, wrote
these words in praise of coal almost 150 years ago. With the dramatic impact
that the burning of coal and other fossil fuels is having on our planet’s
climate, how ironically prophetic his statements have proven to be.
The gathering and burning of coal as an energy source has been documented
as far back as 400 A.D. in Roman-controlled Britain. Now, many centuries
later, when the combustion engine has displaced horse-drawn chariots and
missiles have supplanted swords, coal still remains a primary source of
energy. At what cost do we desperately hold onto this antiquated supply
of power? In order to facilitate the continuing use of coal, the Bush Administration
has rewritten environmental laws to allow mining companies to dump their
wastes into valley streams and other waterways and implemented regulations
that allow utility companies to avoid any meaningful reduction of mercury
emissions from power plants. Under the guise of free trade, “cheap” Appalachian
coal is shipped across the border to use in Ontario power plants whose
very emissions blow back across this same border to poison our Northeastern
states.
We are long past asking ourselves the pivotal question: is the true cost
of coal truly worth it’s cost?
The answer is painfully obvious.
It is time to replace coal with better, cleaner, more efficient sources
of energy. Coal is as obsolete as the antediluvian life forms that make
up its substance – it’s time to move on. Instead of making
excuses for the continued use of coal, this country’s leadership
must take affirmative steps to phase out our dependency on this destructive
energy source.
Give all stakeholders a place at the table when
formulating energy policies. Our current energy policy came out of Vice-President
Dick Cheney’s
energy task force — made up entirely of industry representatives
who donated millions of dollars to his election campaign. When profit-driven
energy interests dictate the energy policies of this nation we’ve
gone way beyond letting the fox guard the henhouse.
Our government needs to promote energy conservation instead of subsidizing
increased expenditures to further coal use. In 1998 the Environmental
Protection Agency noted in a report to Congress that coal-fired power
plants account for 48 tons per year of mercury being emitted into our
air and waterways. Our government’s response? To permit the building
of even more coal-fired power plants and gut Clean Air Act requirements
that would mandate strict control of mercury emissions from these very
facilities. It is time to take conservation seriously.
The fact is, coal could not be mined in the destructive manner that it
is and burned with wanton disregard for human and environmental health
if we simply enforce the laws of the United States as intended. Instead,
with the help of a more than willing Bush Administration, the mining
industry has turned to undermining the very basic principles of our bedrock
environmental statutes like the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.
Compliance with these laws and regard for our environment and public
health would help insure that the cost of coal is truly reflective of
the devastation it’s
use entails.
Aggressively pursue alternate, renewable and clean sources of energy.
The coal industry is determined to keep the country reliant on coal until
Appalachia has been leveled, every last coal seam has been mined and
every last coal chunk has been burned. Why? So they can squeeze every
last drop of profits from an infrastructure that has been paid for by
the American people many times over. As long as these same interests
script the nation’s energy
policies, there will never be any real push for alternate sources of
energy.
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