A
Change Is Going To Come
You better
start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone
Bob Dylan
“A dagger in the heart of the middle
class” is how Senator Mitch McConnell characterized the new EPA
ruling on Carbon Dioxide emissions.
“When I am in the Senate I will
fiercely oppose the President's attack on Kentucky's coal industry”
cried Alison Lundergen Grimes, Senator McConnell’s main opponent
for reelection.
“This is very bad news within the
industry” is how Bill Bissett, President of the Kentucky Coal
Association described the new limits.
Greg Stumbo, the Representative from
King Coal states his opinion in more succinct terms by saying, “it's
dumb-ass policy.”
Each of these remarks was pretty much
what was expected from those quarters but Senator McConnell eagerly
opposes every word that issues from the mouth of President Obama and
he is not alone in these parts with that. Secretary Grimes is in a
tight race with McConnell and is fearful of losing even a small
number of votes due to this issue. While she is confident of not
losing significant voters from the left she is acutely aware of the
possibility of losing some swing votes in the center. In Kentucky,
our pols are still held in the sway of King Coal and, along with our
other elected leaders, lack the political courage to lead the way
into the future that will, willingly or not, drag us along.
I can't help but think that there are
votes to be counted with an honest declaration that our leaders have
failed us for 20 years and their allegiance to King Coal has left
Kentucky in the unenviable position of not having used those years to
be a leader in transitional fuels and new technology. As I said a
few weeks ago, it is short-sighted policy where long-range policy was
needed. Now, here we are and it isn't going to be pretty.
However, it is certainly not as dismal
as every one of the candidates for Mitch's Senate seat makes it out
to be. Kentucky is faced with having to reduce carbon dioxide
emissions by 18% while the national goal is 30% by 2030. This
reduction can be accomplished by any means or combinations of means
such as better conservation, improved insulation, sharing carbon
credits with others or more use of natural gas as a transitional
fuel. There can be no doubt that whatever happens coal will be less
a part of the energy calculation and coal has been the main source of
decent paying jobs in Eastern Kentucky for over a hundred years. It
has also brought a lot of heartache. Reporters from the Lexington
Herald-Leader have done some excellent in depth reporting on this.
Jamie Lucke wrote a prize winning series a couple of years ago and
Bill Estep, John Cheves and Linda Blackford wrote one beginning last
year. Both took on King Coal and spoke truth to power, letting the
chips fall where they may and it made quite a pile.
The fact of the matter is that King
Coal has never had to carry the full cost of using it as a fuel. If
it had to carry the costs of ecological damage, water destruction,
climate change and its attendant health risks there is no way it
would be the cheapest form of energy production. What has happened
is that those costs have been laid at the door of the American
taxpayer who foots the bill for all those ills that go along with the
use of coal.
- Black Bass, mercury contamination yields a recommended intake for most individuals of 1 meal/month for those in a higher risk category such as children and pregnant women the limit is 6 meals/year.
- Crappie/Rock Bass were also noted with mercury contamination and the consumption limits for them are 1 meal/week for most people and 1 meal/month for those at risk
- The EPA estimates that mountaintop removal valley fills are responsible for burying and polluting nearly 2,000 miles of vital Appalachian headwater streams.
According to the West
Virginia University Health Sciences Center the data
show that people in coal mining communities
- have a 70 percent increased risk for developing kidney disease.
- have a 64 percent increased risk for developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) such as emphysema.
- are 30 percent more likely to report high blood pressure
(hypertension).
On October 11, 2000 in Martin County, Kentucky a coal slurry pond that held 300 million gallons of liquid coal waste broke through the roof of the underground mine over which it was built. It flooded two streams and 100 miles of waterway before reaching the Ohio River leaving a dense covering of black goo in its wake. There are hundreds of these impoundments across Appalachia. Will the coal companies bear the cost of their cleanup?
Senator McConnell castigated Senator Harry Reid for saying that burning coal makes you sick saying Reid just doesn't understand Kentucky. My Take is that it seems pretty obvious there is truth in that. Jobs can't be reason enough to tread the path to destruction. You don't find too many people dying of black lung that think it is a good idea.
What do you think about these effects of using coal? Is it desirable to keep on using it or should we begin to change? What can we do to diversify the economy of Eastern Kentucky? Let me know.
rmoore@somerset-kentucky.com
The Beshear administration seems bound
and determined to let one of the governor's biggest political
contributors ruin one of Kentucky's most beautiful and historic
places — even if it puts coalfield drinking water supplies and the
SOAR initiative at risk.
Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2014/06/18/3296716/e-ky-cant-soar-with-ruined-water.html?sp=%2F99%2F349%2F#storylink=cpy
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