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Coal killing the people of West Virginia

  2. JanforGore
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The Center for Disease Control estimates that 12,000 coal miners died from black lung between 1992 and 2002.

Coal plants are the largest source of human-generated mercury pollution in the US.

For more check out: http://www.coal-is-dirty.com

A special thanks to: http://www.burningthefuture.com/
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How can we as Americans sit and watch this happen in our country when there are viable alternate energies to bring jobs to Appalachia and health to its citizens with cleaner water and air?
JanforGore

26 responses // Coal killing the people of West Virginia

  • I think there are better days ahead. Alternative energies will make big strides in the next decade and provide a lot of new jobs.

    We also need to get better at conserving energy today. We waste too much of it.
    jefftego
  • And what about the polluted water? Who will be held responsible for that? And the cancer? And the healthcare of those who live in poverty because of the coal industry? I hope alternate energies make big strides, but that doesn't answer how coal companies will be held accountable for these crimes.This isn't only about climate change, this is about toxifying waterways, land, and air and killing people. Mountaintop removal needs to stop now. It is a moral outrage to allow this to continue. And sorry, with the politicians we have in this country and presidential candidates who on both sides of the bought and sold aisle tout clean coal, I am beginning to wonder about alternate energies really be addressed as they should be. To them CCS is alternate energy, and that is simply not true.
    JanforGore
    1 response to this
  • Yes, the cost of this filthy technology goes far beyond the dollar doesn't it?
    onechance
  • Yes, it goes to who we are as human beings. But I bet some don't care about the people of Kentucky, West Virginia, etc. as there were those who did not care about the people of New Orleans, Mississippi, Alabama, etc. after Hurricane Katrina because they voted for whoever, or because people think them uneducated, or because they are poor. It is Americans who think like that on both sides of the political fence who only see this as a partisan political/ economic issue who make me sick.
    JanforGore
  • Appalachain citizens are an expendable people. Just like the Native Americans were. The only difference is that instead of being in the way we're needed to haul the coal from the earth. However with mountain top removal the coal companies don't need as many workers. They're literally choking the local economy dry
    Frier_peppino
  • Thanks for this informative link JanforGore.
    HellaDelicious
  • Yes Jan and here in some perspective from Peter Montague:

    How does the G8 expect to reach its 2050 goal of 50% below 2005? The IEA says...

    ** Renewables will provide 21% of the needed cut.

    ** Power generation efficiencies and fuel switching (unspecified) will provide 7% of the needed cut.[2]

    ** End use fuel switching (unspecified) will provide 11% of the needed cut.

    ** End use electrcity efficiency will provide another 12% and end use fuel efficiency will provide 24% of the needed cut.

    ** The world must also build 960 to 1280 nuclear power plants between 2010 and 2050, each with a capacity of 1000 megawatts (MW). This will provide 6% of the needed cut.

    ** The world must also build 1200 to 1400 new coal-fired power plants, each with a capacity of 500 MW, and bury their CO2 in the ground, hoping it will stay there forever. This will provide 9% of the needed cut.

    ** The world must also build 40 to 800 gas-fired power plants, each with a capacity of 500 MW, and bury their CO2 in the ground, hoping it will stay there forever. This will provide 10% of the needed cut.

    In other words, 25% of the needed cuts will come from building nuclear power plants (with their threat of spreading nuclear weaponry, and their attendant long-lived radioactive wastes) and from burning coal and burying liquified, pressurized CO2 in the ground. The IEA did not say so, but these hazardous wastes will have to be passed along to the next generation, perhaps with a note that begins, "Sorry to have to tell you this, but we're handing you a couple of problems that you and your grandchildren will not be able to ignore...."

    quote from: http://www.precaution.org/lib/08/prn_g8_plan.080710.htm
    recommended by  JanforGore
    queenofit
  • I would like to know the total deaths(and wages) of coal miners in the Appalachia's since the search began.

    Must give some love to Joseph Alonzo(my great-grandfather) who passed away in a coal mine collapse in Southwestern PA.
    Symbolic
  • Yes, the G8 doing what it does best: Bsing the people.Thanks for posting that.
    JanforGore
  • Please check out HARLAN COUNTY, USA if you guys get the chance.

    It's a good documentary on the United Mine Workers of America(U.M.W.A.) strike against Duke Power Company in Harlan County, KY. It mentions Workers Rights and Black Lung Disease.
    Symbolic
  • Symbolic: Thank you for that information. My condolences regarding your great grandfather.
    JanforGore
    1 response to this
  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CddjKEVeos0
    'Don't Blow Up The Mountain.' Very moving video about mountain top removal set to the song of the same name. And I may not be from West Virginia, but that doesn't mean I can't care about the beauty these coal companies are blowing away that future generations will never see. And I have one question: WHERE ARE THE POLITICIANS? Are they so entrenched in $$$$$$$$ that they have no conscience left?
    JanforGore
  • Jan,

    these people know the cost of working in the mines. It is the only thing thing there to provide a better life. These people work hard and are not dependent on the govt.

    This point is actually moot because not much mining is going on, sadly they are mountain top clearing, hence no mine.

    and as usuall I guess all of you are not burning coal/oil right now?

    God bless big oil
    god bless america
    mrburns
  • They are paid very well to Mrburns just as you are in the Oil Rig business. They have known about black lung for probably 60 or 70 years. These men were brave Americans who earn a good wage and provided a better llife for their family. They knew the dangers of working in the mines but still came to work everyday instead of begging for change from the government. Im sure the men who died under these circumstances would prefer not to have this sites sympathy.

    These men worked hard and had pride.

    God bless them and their families
    clayjj05
  • Well, this won't be the only thing there if people of conscience including those who live there and see the SCAM coal is have their say. And please don't pontificate to me about who should get my sympathy.
    JanforGore
    1 response to this
  • mrburns and clay - I know you guys are repug trolls, but please don't hand us this BS about "dern hypocritical lib'rul's puttin down prideful workin' men tryin' to put ham on the table", m'kay? Chances are good neither of you have done an honest day's labor in your bow-tied life. Nobody here's buyin' what you're selling. When I was young and stupid, I worked asbestos removal/fiberglass installation without a filtermask for a year, and my lungs have never been the same. Coal dust inhalation is far worse and these guys are only marginally aware of the real risks to their health!

    Even when they do know what they're getting involved with, the fact that there are communities in this country that are so destitute, so impoverished, that men have to make a Faustian bargain with Big Coal to deliver their families from poverty is a big black smudge on the Stars and Stripes. You're right in one sense mrburns: "It is the only thing thing there to provide a better life" Yes....that's true my repug friend...it's all they have - and so, of course, it's all they deserve, right?

    Yeah, the majority of everyone's electricity comes from coal and/or nuclear - but we're working on changing that. Until we do, that's where the power comes from, and we conserve where we can, what's your point mrburns?
    recommended by  JanforGore
    Ken1138
    1 response to this
  • http://www.appvoices.org
    Working to stop mountain top removal, amongst other things.
    recommended by  JanforGore
    jh64487
  • And once again it looks like those who actually support cancer and corporate malfeasance are working hard to keep this off TV. I mean gee, can't really upset the big corporations that sponsor tv stations in the MSM. And to those doing that, I sure hope you never lose a loved one to cancer...and I will leave it at that.
    JanforGore
  • I don't know ken what is your point besides trying to the the "obama manuever" and to either rebuke or reject something otherwise known as the truth.

    you can make fun of us all you want, but remember me when you gas, everytime you gas up. . .

    hate me or love me

    I like how you make fun of the south and incorporating it in your spelling, please sir do write me often, as for now I have to make sure my bow tie is on correctly, I have been invited to the crawford ranch to a tire burning party! I have coated my tires in beluga whale oil, so I know it will burn baby burn

    God bless america
    God bless big oil
    mrburns
  • Ken and Jan I have a little story for you about conservation . . . You tell me . . .

    I started out on a Journey from Houston Texas (energy capital of the world) to Mexico. We packed two juice cups each for two my little future engineers. I told the older one to drink as little as possible (conserve) so it will last longer. And the other does not speak yet. The youngest one drank both juice boxes by 200 miles in the trip and went to sleep. The other one drank all the juice by 400miles. At the end they both had zero, They began with the same amount and ended up in the same amount. Conservation means nothing if both end up with zero in the end. I believe the great Igore (al gore) has foolishly taught you to feel good about yourself and teaching about conservation.

    Conservation = usage

    God bless my future engineers for this experiment
    God bless big oil that allowed me to drive to mexico.

    FYI I advise all amreicans not to travel to mexico, serivously I made a mistake. Mexico is in bad shape with drugs and crime.
    mrburns
  • Just a few words from a transplanted local. H.R. 3089 was introduced by Rep. Thornberry TX-13. Named the No More Excuses Energy Act.

    Here are the fine points;

    New refinery construction allowed through tax exempt bonds and federal land as construction sites.

    Lifts moratoria on OCS drilling

    Opens wildlife refuge to big oil.

    Encourages new nuclear power plants.

    Congressmsn Geoff Davis , 4th district KY proud co-sponsor.

    Some of the facts not covered by this bill?

    lifting moratoria will produce oil no sooner than 7 years.

    New refineries will appear in 4 years at best. And tax free bonds will save the multi-billion dollar oil companies billions in taxes.

    Watts-Barr lake in east TN. sports a nuclear facility and also sports signs around the lake warning of radiation and deadly toxic aquatic life. Don't eat the mutated fish.

    This bill will expand mountaintop removal in KY, WV,PA, and VA.

    NC has blocked all new mntntop removal.

    300 million gallons of toxic sludge was dumped into the Big Sandy river in 2000. Massey Energy was fined $5,500 in 2003, after the EPA investigator (Jack Spadaro) was forced to retire.

    Asthma and other assorted respiratory ailments are costing Americans billions in the southeastern US as coal fired power plants are the predominant source of electricity in Southeastern US.

    Bill proposed by (R) KY Jim Bunning will construct (at taxpayer expense) coal to liquid fuel refinery somewhere between eastern KY coalfields and Lexington KY.

    Bill introduced by (R) KY Mitch McConnell will construct (tax free bonds) liquid coal fuel power plant outside Louisville,KY.

    Apparently to the republican party, the health and well being of the average citizen is of no consequence to them. This will bring jobs to the area. However when you search for reports on the oil spill 100yards from the water supply for Winchester KY. you will notice very little coverage from the mainstream. (Marathon Oil pipeline ruptures and dumps 9,000 gallons into pond less than 100 yards from city water supply.)

    When these politicians appear in public for news breifings only a select few are permitted to be there and even fewer are permitted to pose a question.

    The coal companies have become experts in secrecy as evidenced by decades of abuses and murder that is never talked about. (see Matewan Massacre)

    It is the responsibility of the citizens of a democracy to take up arms against a government that no longer represents the best interest of the people it governs. Thomas Jefferson.
    victimofcoal
  • Victim of Coal, you are correct in your observations and facts. The politicians have been bought off with the lives of men, women, and children forced to live in these areas. You know as well, as I do that the wealthy mine owners and their pocket politicians, live the high life, while others die!
    MoonLoon

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