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The Dirty Coal Industry has generously filled campaign coffers and obscured the issues which has allowed them to destroy and pollute with no oversight, ignored by the corporate controlled media.
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As the Marfork Coal Co., a subsidiary of Massey Energy prepares to destroy the 471st mountain, studies indicate that wind turbines on top of those mountains would provide more revenue and jobs than the environmentally destructive Mountain Top Removal.
Imagine what Dirty Coal could accomplish if it turned its sights toward renewable energy instead of the fairy tale of clean coal!
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From Salon:
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After witnessing 470 mountains in central Appalachia get blown to bits by strip mining, the Coal River wind proponents were drawing a line in the sand. The verdict was in on mountaintop removal, which had been launched in 1970 as a quick and dirty option to cheaply procure coal. Thirty-eight years and a million and a half acres of destroyed hardwood forests later, mountaintop removal had run its course in the region with appalling effects.
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Over 1,200 miles of waterways had been sullied and jammed with mining fill. Blasting and coal dust had made life unbearable for anyone in the strip-mined areas. Wells had been busted and polluted with toxic waste.
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West Virginia produced 158 million tons of coal in 2007 and generated $338 million in severance taxes .
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...coal mining provides only 11 to 13 percent of the economic activity in West Virginia. And the state can use all the economy activity it can get. Forbes recently ranked West Virginia 50th among the best states to do business. On less than 100 cleared acres across the same mountain range, McIlmoil concluded that the wind farm would create 200 local jobs during construction, and 50 permanent jobs during the life of the wind farm. In the process, it would provide 440MW of electricity, or enough energy for 150,000 homes, and allow for sustainable forestry and mountain tourism projects. The plan also called for a limited amount of underground coal mining.
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...the Coal River wind advocates released the results of a four-month economic study by W.V.-based Downstream Strategies. According to the report, the first of its kind in coal country, the proposed wind farm on Coal River Mountain, consisting of 164 wind turbines and generating 328 megawatts of electricity, would provide over $1.74 million in annual property taxes to Raleigh County. By comparison, the coal severance taxes related to the mountaintop removal mining would provide the county with only $36,000 per year. More so, it noted that the coal reserves in the area would only last 17 years at best, compared to the eternal supply of wind.
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Remember that Dirty Energy has opposed Cape Wind, an offshore wind farm that would provide renewable energy for Cape Cod residents. Dirty Energy has worked to obstruct a sensible national energy policy that would have created energy independence by now and diminished the impacts of global warming.
Additional resources:
Coal River Mountain Watch Update on Coal River Mountain Wind: We’ve Gotta Keep the Pressure On
5 comments:
We really need to get on about the business of becoming energy independent. This past year and the record gas prices played a huge part in our economic meltdown and seriously damaged our economy and society.We keep planning to spend BILLIONS on bailouts and stimulus plans.Bail us out of our dependence on foreign oil. Make electric plug in car technology more affordable. It cost the equivalent of 60 cents a gallon to drive an electric plug in car. The electric could be generated from wind or solar. If all gasoline cars, trucks, and SUV's instead had plug-in electric drive trains, the amount of electricity needed to replace gasoline is about equal to the estimated wind energy potential of the state of North Dakota. Get with it! Utilize free sources such as wind and solar. Stop throwing away money on things that don't work. Invest in America and it's energy independence. Create cheap clean energy, create millions of badly needed green collar jobs. Put America back to work. It is a win-win situation. We have to become more proactive citizens, educate ourselves and demand our elected officials move this country forward into the era of energy independence. Jeff Wilson's new book The Manhattan Project of 2009 Energy Independence NOW outlines a plan for America to wean itself off oil. We need a plan and we need it now! www.themanhattanprojectof2009
I'm an old tree hugger from way back and pretty close to energy independent myself so I dont pay much attention to what else is doing.
What you posted about coal is enough to choke the proverbial horse! You got some info there.
I grew up in WV but no kin to go back to visit. Didn't know that stuff was going on.
I say heave ho coal! Time for wind mills. BTW I signed the petition and wrote a letter. Disgusting how we let coal rule.
home was near Coal River Mountain til things got so bad we had to move north water was dirty couldnt do landry kids sick from air
You posted information about energy that leads one to wonder why the Board of Selectmen still haven't appointed that Green Committee. Every other town has a committee and they're getting grant funding. Triner will get re-elected to the G&E and continue to do nothing.
Same Old. Same Old.
New people have to change these things and until they volunteer, run for office, it won't change.
How did we allow our environment to be controlled and destroyed by large corporations that truly don't give a damn?
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