SEJ: Fired-up about Coal

Madison Wis., - It is hard to come across easily affordable and reliable energy that is good for the environment in today's age. Instead we as a society rely on Coal, which is affordable and reliable but costly to the environment. Coal supplies almost 80% of the nations energy, yet it is the most dangerous to the environment and to people's health. So, a panel of Coal experts came together at the SEJ conference to talk about the issue of coal.

There are 600 coal fired power plants in the United States with more in production every year. Across the world, more underdeveloped nations are relying on coal fired energy due to its cheapness and reliability. And it has become a hot topic in recent years with rising costs of CO2 emissions and the recent legislation passed by congress.
The world could never not have coal. We use it to produce way to much of the world's electricity and unless we want to travel back in time and start using candles instead of electricity then coal is here to stay. And we can't just completely get ride of coal due to the social-economic ramifications it would have on the thousands upon thousands of people who work for those plants. As for the rest of the world, their use of coal fired plants relate to their economic status.
Former WHOJeffrey Holmstead, addressed this issue at the SEJ conference. He said, "As you look at the future of coal you can't do justice without understand the energy challenges faced by those countries." In China alone coal provides 80% of their energy despite the fact China has more solar and wind energy then any other country. Not only that, there is a new coal fired power plant hooking up to China's grid every nine or 10 days. In India, although they are trying to have other sustainable energy needs, can't afford to implement other types of energy sources for fear of their citizens, who wouldn't be able to afford the increase in cost of energy.

They [India] have a moral and political imperative to provide a better life for their people," Holmstead said. "It is hard to voluntarily increase the costs for these people making it difficult to get out of poverty."

The reasons coal plants have survived Holmstead said, is because "there is a need for affordable power."

"Even if you were to go out and install a coal fire plant with the most advance technologies it is very close to being the cheapest way to produce that power," Holmstead said.

Holmstead added the reason he believes the US and nations across the world haven't changed their dependence on coal fired power plants is because we haven't "figured out a way to produce electricity as reliable and affordable as coal."

One element Holmstead said people need to understand is we, as a society, "can't legislate away the basic problems of human kind. There are lifestyle issues that very few people in developing countries are willing to give up."

One element of coal the panel also discussed in-depth was the health ramifications and the jobs coal-fired plants provide.

Michael Hendryx, a professor at West Virginia University and a specialist in the field of health and coal related issues, discussed the problems between coal and health.

"We have to look at the whole picture of the economy and the social environment," Hendryx said. "There are higher poverty rates and lower income levels in these communities. We need to start thinking about development for mining communities as a public health perspective."

Coal mining communities have a two-sided dilemma. The health ramifications in coal mining communities are grand. Most people in these areas have high rates of kidney disease, poor birth outcomes and higher rates of cancer. But if you take away these plants the people and communities living in these areas have no jobs.

"I am not going to give up my health for cheap coal," Hendryx said.

Hendryx said when looking at the cost of coal environmentalists, journalists and organizations don't take into account the human lives lost every year to the pollutants and waste admitted by these plants.

Coal is a sticky subject. and it is important to realize both sides of the debate. Coal is necessary to provide energy to our world, but we need to reduce our reliance on coal. REDUCE IT. But it will never completely disappear.

In our own state of Ohio, there is talk still of a coal power plant to be put in Meigs County, located on the Ohio, West Virginia boarder. This power plant will be one of four plants in the region. FOUR. This is a sad statistic and the people in this area face the same dilemmas as mentioned above - do they decide to fight the installation of another plant or do they welcome the jobs this plant will bring to an areal already in poverty?

This question was discussed by Hendryx who said when removing coal plants from these communities we also need to change the socio-economic conditions of the people affected by these plants.

So it is a conundrum with coal fired plants. But something needs to happen to reduce the environmental hazard while at the same time providing the area and community with options to raise their poverty levels.