Coal Kills // Current

Report details "coal's assault on human health"

Coal is not now and never will be clean. It kills.

JanforGore
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Global Warming Guy

Produced and presented by the Coastal Conservation League, Global Warming Guy is a... more

nonprophet
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Call Lisa Jackson and tell the EPA to intervene at Coal River Mountain

I just called and was told there have been several hundred other calls and that they... more

JanforGore
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USDA and EPA pushing coal ash for growing crops

Just how far will they go to shill for the coal industry? I actually thought this was a joke. It's not enough with all of the pesticides, GMOs, and artificial crap in our food. Let's just add some toxic coal ash to the mix to make it taste real good. Unbelievable.

Excerpt:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency are asking farmers to use coal ash to grow their crops, despite a paucity of research on possible risks, according to documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). USDA endorses use of coal combustion wastes by farmers "for crop production" while acknowledging uncertainty on the extent to which "toxic elements" are absorbed into produce entering the market.

This month, USDA enters the final year of a three-year partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency as part of a larger effort by the American Coal Ash Association, the Electric Power Research Institute and others to "promote appropriate increased use of" coal ash in agriculture. The implementing Memorandum of Understanding obliges USDA to generate "documentation of the effectiveness, safety and environmental benefits, including bioavailability of trace elements such as mercury, arsenic and selenium...to satisfy the concerns of producers, generators, regulators and the public."

According to EPA, agriculture annually uses more than 180,000 tons of coal ash and other coal combustion byproducts. There are no federal standards governing agricultural applications of coal ash. EPA has publicly vowed to promulgate hazardous waste rules by the end of 2009 for coal ash, one year after last December's disastrous coal ash spills from Tennessee Valley Authority sludge ponds.

"USDA should pull out of the coal ash business tomorrow morning," stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, who obtained the documents under the Freedom of Information Act. "USDA does American agriculture no favors by duping farmers into spreading hazardous wastes across their fields."

In an April 2, 2009 letter to EPA, USDA Agricultural Research Service Deputy Administrator Steven Shafer expressed "ARS interest" in exploring greater use of coal combustion wastes in crop production as a fertilizer treatment and soil amendment. His letter cites current application of coal ash in growing corn, tomatoes, alfalfa, peanuts, and other crops. While generally sanguine about coal ash use, Shafer concedes that the "long-term effects...remain a subject of research."

Nonetheless, EPA promotional materials state that EPA and "USDA support the use of" coal combustion byproducts "in appropriate soil and hydrogeologic conditions as an effective method of soil conservation and industrial material recycling."

"The public does not want its food to come from ‘industrial material recycling' any more than it wants coal-flavored cauliflower," Ruch added. "This coal ash re-use campaign is really just a multi-billion dollar backdoor subsidy to the coal industry to relieve it of the true costs of handling its toxic wastes."Just how far will they go to shill for the coal industry? I actually thought this was... more

JanforGore
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Obama administration releases funds for elusive "clean coal"

The Obama administration announced the winners of the first phase of "clean coal" dollars from the economic stimulus package, with the largest sums going to oil firms.

Only $21.6 million of the $1.4 billion for carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies was made available in phase one. The money was awarded to 12 companies that will test ways to catch and compress CO2 from polluting plants, transport it by pipeline and pump it underground.

The biggest winners were C6 Resources, a Shell Oil affiliate; ConocoPhillips; and Shell Chemicals, another division of Shell Oil. Each nabbed $3 million to demonstrate their technologies for seven months.

In the announcement, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu recycled the 'clean coal' boilerplate of past releases: "These new technologies will not only help fight climate change, they will create jobs now," although there was no estimate of how many jobs will be generated.

He also repeated this claim:

"The investments will help position the United States to lead the world in carbon dioxide capture technologies."

America still has a long way to go, though. A few subsidy-funded R&D tests are now being carried out, but none is considered economically feasible on a large scale, or even that clean.

A massive, 1,300-MW West Virginia coal plant just became the nation's first facility to pipe a small portion of its global-warming emissions back in the Earth. For an investment of more than $100 million, about 1.5 percent of the plant's CO2 will be sequestered.

Despite his critics, Chu has stood firm on CCS, becoming one of its staunchest proponents. In a September op-ed in Science Magazine he explained why:

"... the United States, Russia, China, and India account for two-thirds of the [world's coal] reserves. Coal accounts for roughly 25% of the world energy supply and 40% of the carbon emissions. It is highly unlikely that any of these countries will turn their back on coal any time soon, and for this reason, the capture and storage of CO2 emissions from fossil fuel power plants must be aggressively pursued."

Some form of CO2 reduction technology is necessary. And while CCS has become the solution of choice for politicians, its actual implementation worldwide is all close to absent – and it's certain to be devilishly complex if and when it begins.

Research shows that returning a fraction of global emissions back into the Earth would require pumping as much compressed gas underground as all the oil being taken out. The infrastructure needed for that exceeds what is possible to build in a generation – or maybe ever.The Obama administration announced the winners of the first phase of "clean coal"... more

JanforGore
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World Bank spends billions on coal-fired power stations despite own climate warnings

Well, the key word here is bank. They are not in this for philanthropic reasons. Why... more

JanforGore
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2 months ago
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Environmental groups to sue EPA over coal-ash ponds

Three environmental groups have put the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on notice that they intend to sue the agency, alleging it has failed to regulate water pollution from the nation’s electric utilities, including discharges into rivers and lakes from hundreds of coal-ash ponds.

Defenders of Wildlife, the Sierra Club and the Environmental Integrity Project on Monday filed their notice of intent to sue the EPA — the first step in a federal lawsuit — alleging that EPA officials should have tightened their rules on power plant water pollution as far back as 1982.

At issue are the heavy metals and other toxic pollutants found in effluent from ponds that store electric utilities’ combustion wastes, such as ash, as well as scrubber sludge wastewater, and wastewater produced during the cleaning of cooling towers, said Jen Peterson, an attorney with the Environmental Integrity Project.

“Toxic discharges from power plants can threaten the health of local communities, contaminate ground and surface waters, and destroy aquatic life,” said the Environmental Integrity Project executive director Eric Schaeffer, a former high-ranking EPA enforcement official. “EPA needs to stop kicking the can down the road and set a date for regulation.”

He said the agency’s data shows that coal plants discharge millions of pounds of toxic pollutants like arsenic, mercury, selenium and lead, each year. Yet existing federal rules, which have not been revised since 1982, set no national limits on metals discharges, which can get into local water supplies and contaminate waterways, he said.

snip

An EPA survey made public earlier this month found that Indiana and Kentucky are the nation's top two states for coal ash ponds — and many of the many were built without the guidance of trained engineers.

The survey documented nearly 600 ash ponds across the U.S. — 53 in Indiana and 44 in Kentucky. It was conducted after a massive December coal ash spill in Tennessee.

The Clean Water Act requires anybody filing such lawsuits to give the EPA a 60-day notice.Three environmental groups have put the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on notice... more

JanforGore
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India's generation of children crippled by uranium waste

Their heads are too large or too small, their limbs too short or too bent. For some, their brains never grew, speech never came and their lives are likely to be cut short: these are the children it appears that India would rather the world did not see, the victims of a scandal with potential implications far beyond the country's borders.

Some sit mutely, staring into space, lost in a world of their own; others cry out, rocking backwards and forwards. Few have any real control over their own bodies. Their anxious parents fret over them, murmuring soft words of encouragement, hoping for some sort of miracle that will free them from a nightmare.

Health workers in the Punjabi cities of Bathinda and Faridkot knew something was terribly wrong when they saw a sharp increase in the number of birth defects, physical and mental abnormalities, and cancers. They suspected that children were being slowly poisoned.

But it was only when a visiting scientist arranged for tests to be carried out at a German laboratory that the true nature of their plight became clear. The results were unequivocal. The children had massive levels of uranium in their bodies, in one case more than 60 times the maximum safe limit.

The results were both momentous and mysterious. Uranium occurs naturally throughout the world, but is normally only present in low background levels which pose no threat to human health. There was no obvious source in the Punjab that could account for such high levels of contamination.

And if a few hundred children – spread over a large area – were contaminated, how many thousands more might also be affected? Those are questions the Indian authorities appear determined not to answer. Staff at the clinics say they were visited and threatened with closure if they spoke out. The South African scientist whose curiosity exposed the scandal says she has been warned by the authorities that she may not be allowed back into the country.

But an Observer investigation has now uncovered disturbing evidence to suggest a link between the contamination and the region's coal-fired power stations. It is already known that the fine fly ash produced when coal is burned contains concentrated levels of uranium and a new report published by Russia's leading nuclear research institution warns of an increased radiation hazard to people living near coal-fired thermal power stations.

The test results for children born and living in areas around the state's power stations show high levels of uranium in their bodies. Tests on ground water show that levels of uranium around the plants are up to 15 times the World Health Organisation's maximum safe limits. Tests also show that it extends across large parts of the state, which is home to 24 million people.

endTheir heads are too large or too small, their limbs too short or too bent. For some,... more

JanforGore
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TVA says ash spill cleanup could take 3 years

Another environmental catastrophe and crime against nature that the coal company and... more

JanforGore
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Obama EPA approves another mountaintop removal mine

Where's the outrage? Hello, Mr. Gore? _____________ The Obama administration late... more

JanforGore
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Carbon capture for coal costly, study finds

And yet, this administration pushes for the oxymoron 'clean coal' which is a non existant technology that will not be anywhere near functionally effective for the next twenty years, if it is even possible. This is just another scam coal companies can use to continue spewing the same amounts of CO2 while getting free credits under cap and trade for doing virtually nothing to effectively decrease carbon emissions as they must be decreased by 2020 to avoid a tipping point. And who will ultimately foot the bill? It won't be them. What a racket.

Excerpt:

Harvard University researchers have issued a new report that confirms what many experts already feared: Stopping greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants is going to cost a lot of money.

Electricity costs could double at a first-generation plant that captures and stores carbon dioxide emissions, according to the report from energy researchers at the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center.

Costs would drop as the technology matures, but could still amount to an increase of 22 to 55 percent, according to the report, "Realistic Costs of Carbon Capture," issued this week.

These projections "are higher than many published estimates," but reflect capital project inflation and "greater knowledge of project costs," wrote researchers Mohammed Al-Juaied and Adam Whitmore.

Coal is the nation's largest source of global warming pollution, representing about a third of U.S. greenhouse emissions, equal to the combined output of all cars, trucks, buses, trains and boats.

In the U.S., coal provides half of the nation's electricity. Many experts believe that, because of vast supplies, coal will continue to generate much of the nation's power for many years to come.

Climate scientists, though, recommend that the nation swiftly cut carbon dioxide emissions and ultimately reduce them by at least 80 percent below 2000 levels by mid-century to avoid the worst consequences of climate change.

Industry supporters say the key is for scientists to perfect technology to capture carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants and pump those gases safely underground. But such technology has never been deployed on a commercial scale. Critics worry about the expense, safety and a host of technical hurdles.And yet, this administration pushes for the oxymoron 'clean coal' which is a non... more

JanforGore
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Mountaintop mining legacy: destroying Appalachia's streams

The spread of mountaintop removal through central Appalachia in the past 15 years has given scientists the opportunity to study environmental destruction on a previously unthinkable scale: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that by 2013 a forested area the size of Delaware will have been destroyed and that more than 1,200 miles of streams have already been severely damaged. As that footprint has grown, so has the evidence, outlined in peer-reviewed scientific papers and ongoing investigations, showing that the damage is far more extensive than previously understood.

The Obama administration’s approach puts pressure on coal companies to compromise with regulators to limit some of the more egregious impacts of mountaintop removal. That may have some effect, but it will be limited by the government’s balkanized regulatory scheme for coal mining, which dates to the 1970s and never contemplated the vast damage that results when mountains are demolished.

In the case of valley fills, for example, only the EPA has ecosystem-wide responsibility through the Clean Water Act which governs what may be dumped in streams and waterways. But the agency’s power is circumscribed; it shares authority with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which actually grants the dumping permits and has taken a much more sympathetic view of the practice. The Interior Department, meanwhile, oversees mountaintop projects via another law, the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act.

Nevertheless, the White House is betting that mountaintop mining can be managed and the damage ultimately repaired. But the science indicates that such an incremental approach may never be effective. Mountaintop removal does damage on both vast and microscopic scales, from hydrological changes over hundreds of square miles to effects on the life cycles of the tiniest stream microbes. Overseeing the repair of such damage is beyond the capabilities of any government agency; the most serious impacts — to streams — may be all but impossible to fix.

Margaret Palmer, a biology professor at the University of Maryland, was part of a team of scientists that compiled a comprehensive database of 37,000 U.S. river and stream restoration projects. She found no record of any mining-related stream-building project that could be called ecologically successful.

much more at the link.
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This is an excellent article, though sad to read. The damage coal companies have been allowed to get away with here is a crime of grand scale.The spread of mountaintop removal through central Appalachia in the past 15 years has... more

JanforGore
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Tennessee Valley Authority Increases Hazard Ratings on Coal Ash Sites - NYTimes.com

"The Tennessee Valley Authority has raised the hazard ratings on several of its coal... more

mgreener
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4 months ago
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Robert F. Kennedy: Obama must stop mountaintop obliteration

Mountaintop removal coal mining is the worst environmental tragedy in American... more

JanforGore
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5 months ago
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NASA climate researcher Hansen arrested at coal-mining protest

James Hansen, NASA's chief climate scientist, was arrested Last Tuesday while... more

northrunnnercano6
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Mountaintop removal damage "irreversible," Senate hears

Mountaintop removal coal mining is causing "immense and irreversible" damage to... more

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Greenpeace campaigners block coal shipment to Kingsnorth power plant

Coal Kills. We must quit coal. We have energy alternatives now that can be used to... more

JanforGore
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Two FutureGen partners drop coal project

Just two weeks after the federal government revived plans to build the FutureGen power... more

JanforGore
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Mountaintop removal goes to Washington

"The saga of mountaintop removal continues, and this time it's headed to Congress. Two... more

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Why six Britons went to eco war

When six activists, protesting against climate pollution, scaled a tower at a coal-fired power station in 2007 the resulting court case drew support from the world's leading scientists. Their subsequent acquittal proved historic and changed government policy. Here, the 'Kingsnorth Six' tell their story.

Six ordinary people. One extraordinary feat of courage and endurance. Twenty thousand tonnes of carbon dioxide belched into the atmosphere in a single day. Twelve members of a jury, reaching a verdict that could change the future of the planet. From these ingredients, Nick Broomfield has fashioned a film that tells the gripping and (the description is unusually literal) life-changing story of the Kingsnorth Six.

When a demonstration at the Kingsnorth power station in north-east Kent in late 2007 led to the arrest of six climate change activists, what had until then seemed a rather dry local planning issue exploded into a story of national and international concern. The verdict at their trial turned out to have far-reaching implications for activism, the future of coal, even the planet.

Now a 20-minute film, A Time Comes, by the much-admired documentary-maker Nick Broomfield, cuts police and Greenpeace footage of the occupation together with news clips and interviews with the activists. What emerges is how ordinary the Kingsnorth Six are - they could be the bloke next door or the woman across the office - but also how brave and tenacious. The film is released just as the government's review of its coal policy is expected and campaigners hope and expect the review will define a seismic shift in official attitudes to carbon emissions.

"I was attracted to making a film about the Kingsnorth Six because they're such everyday people," Broomfield says. "You tend to think of environmental activists as super-fit professionals, but they are modest and understated. I admire the way they were prepared to see it through - to take action for what they believed and take the consequences - and I wanted to make the film immediate, personal, anecdotal.

"I loved the footage of them struggling up a chimney as if in Dante's Inferno. Their story is just a very human one of great courage and great love and belief, which is, I suppose, what all great stories are about."

end of excerpt

More of this story at this link:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/may/31/kingsnorth-activists-climate-change-coalWhen six activists, protesting against climate pollution, scaled a tower at a... more

JanforGore
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tagged w/ Coal Kills

Report details "coal's assault on human health"

Global Warming Guy

Call Lisa Jackson and tell the EPA to intervene at Coal River Mountain

USDA and EPA pushing coal ash for growing crops

Obama administration releases funds for elusive "clean coal"

World Bank spends billions on coal-fired power stations despite own climate warnings

Environmental groups to sue EPA over coal-ash ponds

India's generation of children crippled by uranium waste

TVA says ash spill cleanup could take 3 years

Obama EPA approves another mountaintop removal mine

Carbon capture for coal costly, study finds

Mountaintop mining legacy: destroying Appalachia's streams

Tennessee Valley Authority Increases Hazard Ratings on Coal Ash Sites - NYTimes.com

Robert F. Kennedy: Obama must stop mountaintop obliteration

NASA climate researcher Hansen arrested at coal-mining protest

Mountaintop removal damage "irreversible," Senate hears

Greenpeace campaigners block coal shipment to Kingsnorth power plant

Two FutureGen partners drop coal project

Mountaintop removal goes to Washington

Why six Britons went to eco war

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