Coal Power: Damages the Environment, the Economy, and Lives
Coal does a massive amount of damage to the environment everyday. It is responsible for high greenhouse gas emissions, crop and timber damage, is an extreme air pollutant and causes many health risks, like asthma, chronic bronchitis and cardiovascular disease. All of this damage costs the US alone at least $62 billion per year.
Image source: Wikimedia Commons
The National Academy of Sciences released a report that entails a study of 406 coal plants, which create a combined 95% of the nation’s coal-burned electricity. The amount of damage per facility, per year, is roughly $156 million in environmental damages; caused by sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and other particles emitted from the plants. Oh, and the coal companies don’t even bother to pay for it or take any responsibility for their poor actions.
The US isn’t the only country affected by the anti-green use and distribution of coal; Britain is also seeing some nasty results of coal use as well, but at least they are attempting to do something about it. Climate activists held a protest at a coal plant (owned by German utility E.ON) in the UK, gathering hundreds of people who opposed coal-creating pollution. The protest reached the point of fights between the activists and police, with 50 protesters arrested during an attempt to break through the security fence. Many of them were bruised and injured—including dog bites, a dislocated ankle and head injuries—and one officer was airlifted to a hospital due to serious injuries.
Camp for Climate Action—the organization that threw together the protest—said that their actions were “to confront the causes of Climate Change, not get into conflict with the police”. It is estimated that up to 1,000 people were at the protest, and at least 30 others connected with the event were arrested. The organization was also nice enough to wish the injured officer a quick recovery; despite the injuries they sustained.
Used under license from Shutterstock.com
Coal is the largest contributor to man-made CO2 emissions. It causes pollution, shortens lives (at least 24,000 in the US per year) and contaminates water (supplies and ecosystems). It is responsible for many underground fires around the world, such as that in Centralia, Pennsylvania (where the Silent Hill movie and video games are based off of); and these fires can cause the ground to collapse, create surface wildfires, and can release toxic vapors into the air.
If you use coal as a fuel source, I would highly suggest switching to a more green or renewable energy source, such as solar, wind or geothermal.
By Heidi Marshall
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Tags: climate change, coal, Pollution, renewable energy
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