I am smitten with the history and culture of the coal-mining region of central Appalachia where I live. I can't even describe how much I delight in seeing old mines, conveyers stretching out over winding, unnamed county roads, and the rows of coal camp houses that still characterize so many Appalachian towns. I don't know why; it's certainly not rational, because the old mines are usually leaching nasty stuff into creekbeds, the conveyers are just sitting there doing nothing because most mining nowadays is achieved by literally removing mountaintops rather than digging, and the camp houses were built cheaply 80 years ago and tend to signify that a community is impoverished. Not good news, any of it.
Anyway, although I know that my love affair with coal culture is probably going to stick around, coal itself is pretty firmly in the doghouse as far as I'm concerned. It's among the least, if not the very least, sustainable fuel out there, and it's not just the mining of it that's screwing up the environment (by, among other things, removing mountaintops and basically dumping them in crucial streams)-- coal-fired power plants pollute like none other, despite claims made by proponents of "clean coal," who usually cite figures based on best-case scenario implementation of every conceivable cleaning-up-the-coal measure, even ones they have no intention of actually using because they're not cost effective. And this particular coal-fired power plant, if it gets final approval from the state, is going to be just 30 miles from us. Prevailing winds will bring most of the air pollution our way.
Anyone who thinks they might want to come visit us someday: better make it soon. Construction could start next month.
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4 comments:
That video of blowing the top off the mountain makes me physically ill. If what they were getting was high-efficiency fuel that didn't contribute to the terrible air pollution, it MIGHT be excusable, but it's not, so it's not.
So true... I just had my students complete a project on renewable resources. Most of them compared it to coal... hopefully they will be able to make a difference some day!
I'm a little disturbed about Obama's comments in Montana (a coal state) and hope he gets some better advice from his environmental brain trust.
I'm a bit late on commenting on this. But I just wanted to say that I am fascinated with the culture of Appalachia as well. I took a North American geography course in college. Little did I know that this geography course was actually the "writing requirement" course for Geography Majors and was probably not the smartest choice for someone who just needed 4 or 5 Geography classes to be able to teach history and had just completed the writing requirement course for her own major.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed the class immensely. I did end up having to write a ridiculously long physical and cultural history of a state or province in North America, though. I chose West Virginia. Fascinating (and sad) stuff. I wish I could remember more of it, but my sophomore year of college was a long time ago.
~Randi
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