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I agree with Erik Reece of Lexington, KY. It's time for a 'new deal' for Appalachia(h/t to va dare for the link):
A form of strip mining called mountaintop removal has ripped apart all of the ridgelines that surround this forest, leaving miles of lifeless gray plateaus, lunar wastelands. Mountaintop removal entails the blasting of entire summits to rubble in an effort to reach, as quickly and inexpensively as possible, thin seams of bituminous coal. Trees, topsoil and sandstone are dumped into the valleys below. More than 1,000 miles of streams have been buried in this way, and an Environmental Protection Agency study found that 95 percent of headwater streams near mines have been contaminated by heavy metals leeching from the sites.
When it comes to mountaintop removal, a certain fatalism seems to take hold in Appalachia -- the coal companies are too powerful, some politicians are corrupt, the regulators won't regulate and the news media don't care. But we cannot give up on rehabilitating Appalachia.
Erik Reece continues outlining not only the problems we face, but a hopeful future for new solutions as well.
Appalachia's land is dying. Its fractured communities show the typical symptoms of hopelessness, including OxyContin abuse rates higher than anywhere in the country. Meanwhile, 22 states power houses and businesses with Kentucky coal. The people of central and southern Appalachia have relinquished much of their natural wealth to the rest of the country and have received next to nothing in return.
To right these wrongs, first we need federal legislation that will halt the decapitation of mountains and bring accountability to an industry that is out of control. Then we need a New Deal for Appalachia that would expand the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative, or create a similar program, to finally return some of the region's lost wealth in the form of jobs and trees, rebuilt topsoil and resuscitated communities.
Financing should come from a carbon tax on Appalachian coal bought and burned by utility companies across the country -- a tax that would also discourage the wasteful emissions of greenhouse gases. Such a project would educate and employ an entire generation of foresters and forest managers, who would be followed by locally owned wood-product industries and craftsmen like Patrick Angel's brother Mike, who makes much sought-after hardwood chairs just like ones his grandfather fashioned.
We know that our species, and most other species, will survive only in a future that burns no coal or oil. The question now is whether we have the nerve to get there before the world's oldest mountains are gone.
I couldn't agree more. Let's start investing financial resources in sustainable development. The extraction economy has been a disaster for this region--liquid coal is not the answer. Sustainable energy solutions are sustainable economic solutions.
Flickr photo credit: Erik Reece by Kentuckians For The Commonwealth
West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin was recently one of the headline speakers at the 2009 World Coal to Liquids Conference last week; he was joined by Wyoming Gov. Fruedenthal. In the March Coal to Liquid Fuels Update (rec'd via email), they report on these speeches:
West Virginia, Wyoming governors tout domestic fuels at world CTL conference
Leading coal, energy and project developers from around the world gathered in Washington, D.C, this month for the World CTL 2009 Conference.
The conference, held March 25-27, explored the latest developments in coal-to-liquid (CTL) fuel technology, including new environmental improvement techniques and the status of CTL plant construction around the world.
West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin (D) and Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal (D) headlined the distinguished roster of public and private sector representatives who spoke at the conference.
Manchin opened the conference by telling delegates that he had recently met with senior White House and Obama Administration staff to discuss a number of key coal issues, including stressing how domestic CTL fuels can boost U.S. energy security.
Noting that the U.S. is home to a quarter of the world's coal reserves, Manchin highlighted the energy security and economic benefits of coal-based transportation fuels, adding that "turning our back on coal would be catastrophic."
Manchin also stressed that new technologies are coming online that can further improve the environmental performance of CTL plants and fuels.
Fruedenthal, in a March 26 luncheon address, also touted the environmental benefits of CTL fuels, noting that such fuels can emit far less carbon dioxide than the imported fuels they would replace.
In addition, Freudenthal also detailed efforts his state has undertaken to implement ground-breaking rules regulating the underground storage of carbon dioxide.
Not part of his formal comments--but still part of his overall message to the CTL conference--there's also Gov. Manchin's biography provided for World CTL conference attendees. In part, it reads:
Governor Manchin has set the year 2030 as the state's goal for independence from foreign energy sources. He is helping to steer the state in that direction, encouraging the expansion of new technology to make better use of the state's massive coal reserves. He also is an advocate for conservation, and for harnessing the state's other energy resources, including natural gas and the renewable sources of wind, solar, hydro and biomass.
In late-2007, Gov. Manchin traveled to China to explore that country's growing coal-related industries and to learn more about coal-to-liquids development in Asia. The governor is committed to seeing modern CTL technology developed in his home state.
Background
Coal to liquid (CTL) is the most prominent "clean coal" technology under development. Wikipedia offers a good summary of CTL technology. It ends thus:
All of these liquid fuel production methods release carbon dioxide (CO2) in the conversion process, far more than is released in the extraction and refinement of liquid fuel production from petroleum. If these methods were adopted to replace declining petroleum supplies, carbon dioxide emissions would be greatly increased on a global scale.
For future liquefaction projects, Carbon dioxide sequestration is proposed to avoid releasing it into the atmosphere, though no pilot projects have confirmed the feasibility of this approach on a wide scale. As CO2 is one of the process streams, sequestration is easier than from flue gases produced in combustion of coal with air, where CO2 is diluted by nitrogen and other gases.
Sequestration will, however, add to the cost.
The FutureGen project canceled by the Bush administration was a high-profile DOE funded project testing both CTL and CCS technologies. While in Congress, Obama had been a strong proponent of CTL fuels, including serving as the Democratic leader of the Senate CTL Fuel Caucus.
h/t to Macgregor Thomson for putting this together. Some factual corrections/updates on the candidates statements.
1) Last I heard, China is no longer opening one coal factory a week. China's widespread usage of coal is a huge environmental issue, but with coal shortages and a growing environmental movement, the rate of new plant openings is slowing.
What we should be talking about for energy policy is things like energy efficiency, negawatts, and micro-power generation, not yet another set of large scale centralized energy production solutions that further concentrate corporate power with large-scale high-risk hugely expensive government investments.
A first ever Coal to Liquid Technology conference was held today at the Glade Springs Resort in Daniel, West Virginia near Beckley. The conference will continue through tomorrow. A front page article in today's Bluefield Daily Telegraph headlines the event as "Powered by Coal - CTL Takes Spotlight". The article by Samantha Perry can be read by clicking here.
The article describes the conference as follows...
BLUEFIELD — Key players with the potential for shaping the nation’s energy future will converge on southern West Virginia today for the nation’s first-ever Coal-To-Liquids Coalition conference.
“We’re holding this conference in West Virginia so that the people in West Virginia can hear from the experts on what coal-to-liquids means to your state — what it means to the future of West Virginia,” Coal-To-Liquids Coalition Spokesman Corey Henry said Monday. “We’re talking about the potential of tens of thousands of new jobs,” as well as the role the Mountain State could play in America’s future energy independence.
The conference will feature two of our Washington representatives Congressman Nick Rahall (D-WV), and Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) who are really charged up about this technology as a return of King Coal to West Virginia and a source of salvation for the state's economic woes. There are many other key players at this conference including US Air Force personnel, UMWA personnel, and Coal industry leaders.
Rahall really has some dramatic imagery as he is quoted as saying...
“I have a dream one day every NASCAR race will be fueled by CTL,” Rahall said, “and Jeff Gordon can have emblazoned across the hood of his souped-up Chevy, ‘Powered by liquid coal.’ ’’
That kind of talk gives what I believe are false hopes to the folks of West Virginia. There are just too many groups that are opposed to this expensive and not environmentally friendly technology. Our own Clem Guttata has written many diaries about this issue most of which can be read by clicking here. The last attempt at passing legislation to support this technology failed in both the Senate and the House. More below the fold.
Depending on how long the Alberto Gonzales no-confidence takes today, the Senate may take up the Energy Bill as early as this evening. That means there's no time to waste to make our voices heard on the Liquid Coal legislation.
The massive subsidies for coal were defeated in committee. Unfortunately, they could easily get snuck back in again as an amendment before the final vote.
Call your Senator today! Tell them to vote against Liquid Coal if it comes up again as an amendment. For those of us in West Virginia, call Sen. Byrd and Sen. Rockefeller. Here are their numbers:
Sen. Jay Rockefeller - 202-224-6472
Sen. Robert Byrd - 202-224-3954
The Coal to Liquid Fuel bill is a bad piece of legislation. It will increase, not decrease carbon emissions. It will increase, not decrease destruction Mountain Top Removal coal mining. It will increase, not decrease the transfer of wealth to corporate energy owners. It is bad energy policy, bad social policy, and bad environmental policy.
This is a critical time for action. Your voice can make a difference.
The Coal to Liquid Fuel bill is a bad piece of legislation. It will increase, not decrease carbon emissions. It will increase, not decrease destructive Mountain Top Removal coal mining. It will increase, not decrease the transfer of wealth to corporate energy owners. This bill is bad energy policy, bad social policy, and bad environmental policy.
Our friends at Blue Mass. Group were kind enough to front-page a story on this issue today. In the comments, raj pointed out this amazing article now available only from the May 2006 issue Vanity Fair: Michael Shnayerson's, "The Rape of Appalachia".
Today dozens of cyclists paid a surprise visit to Bank of America to protest their financial backing of coal companies as a part of the International Day of Action Against Climate Change and G8. After tying up downtown traffic, the 30-strong bike ride descended on the downtown Asheville headquarters of Bank of America. Once there, a number of people dumped coal in front of the main entrance, while another person spontaneously sacrificed their bike lock and locked the front doors shut.
[snip]
Bank of America plays a major role in perpetuating climate change by its massive investments in the coal industry. Pound for pound, burning coal releases more C02 emissions then any other fossil fuel. Bank of America has facilitated nearly $1 billion in loans to Massey Energy and Arch Coal, two of the largest companies involved in the environmentally devastating process of mountaintop removal coal mining. Mountaintop removal mining has already reduced 500 square miles of mountains to rubble and buried over 1,200 miles of streams in Southern Appalachia.
Bank of America has also made loans and facilitated stock offerings for Peabody Energy to the tune of several billion dollars. Peabody is infamous for its human rights violations against Native Americans. Since 1975, over 14,000 indigenous people, mostly Dine’, have been forcibly relocated off of their ancestral lands to make way for Peabody’s Black Mesa strip mine in northeastern Arizona. This strip mine, the largest in the US, has devastated thousands of acres of indigenous land and drained local aquifers that are essential for sustaining life in this desert climate. In addition to these abuses, Peabody Energy, along with a number of other companies funded by Bank of America, are pursuing the construction of a new wave of dirty coal plants.
Wow, this is pretty amazing. You know a piece of coal-related legislation is a real stinker when even coal-mining region researchers and newspapers start speaking out against it. Here's a taste from the states neighboring West Virginia.
"A major program to subsidize coal-to-liquids makes no sense, since the goals of energy independence and reducing greenhouse gas emissions can be achieved at lower cost through plug-in hybrid vehicles charged with electricity from reduced carbon sources," according to an Issue Brief by the Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center.
Next, (via gristmill) we've got newspapers editorials in Kentucky and Roanoke, Virginia chiming in:
Billion-dollar boondoggle: Coal-to-liquid technology is expensive, harmful to the environment and inefficient. The federal government should take no part in subsidizing it.
Wisdom in the media on these issues is rare. Kudos to both papers for putting the long-term national interest above short-term local interests.
(Bumped... this story is just as apt today as it was six-plus months ago. - promoted by Clem Guttata)
Erik Reece, Credit: The Courier-Journal.com
I agree with Erik Reece of Lexington, KY. It's time for a 'new deal' for Appalachia(h/t to va dare for the link):
A form of strip mining called mountaintop removal has ripped apart all of the ridgelines that surround this forest, leaving miles of lifeless gray plateaus, lunar wastelands. Mountaintop removal entails the blasting of entire summits to rubble in an effort to reach, as quickly and inexpensively as possible, thin seams of bituminous coal. Trees, topsoil and sandstone are dumped into the valleys below. More than 1,000 miles of streams have been buried in this way, and an Environmental Protection Agency study found that 95 percent of headwater streams near mines have been contaminated by heavy metals leeching from the sites.
When it comes to mountaintop removal, a certain fatalism seems to take hold in Appalachia -- the coal companies are too powerful, some politicians are corrupt, the regulators won't regulate and the news media don't care. But we cannot give up on rehabilitating Appalachia.
Erik Reece continues outlining not only the problems we face, but a hopeful future for new solutions as well.
Appalachia's land is dying. Its fractured communities show the typical symptoms of hopelessness, including OxyContin abuse rates higher than anywhere in the country. Meanwhile, 22 states power houses and businesses with Kentucky coal. The people of central and southern Appalachia have relinquished much of their natural wealth to the rest of the country and have received next to nothing in return.
To right these wrongs, first we need federal legislation that will halt the decapitation of mountains and bring accountability to an industry that is out of control. Then we need a New Deal for Appalachia that would expand the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative, or create a similar program, to finally return some of the region's lost wealth in the form of jobs and trees, rebuilt topsoil and resuscitated communities.
Financing should come from a carbon tax on Appalachian coal bought and burned by utility companies across the country -- a tax that would also discourage the wasteful emissions of greenhouse gases. Such a project would educate and employ an entire generation of foresters and forest managers, who would be followed by locally owned wood-product industries and craftsmen like Patrick Angel's brother Mike, who makes much sought-after hardwood chairs just like ones his grandfather fashioned.
We know that our species, and most other species, will survive only in a future that burns no coal or oil. The question now is whether we have the nerve to get there before the world's oldest mountains are gone.
I couldn't agree more. Let's start investing financial resources in sustainable development. The extraction economy has been a disaster for this region--liquid coal is not the answer. Sustainable energy solutions are sustainable economic solutions.
We're tickled every shade of pink that Moveon.Org is helping us stop the Liquid Coal Fuel legislation! Act now. Sign the petition.
In the next few weeks, Congress could vote to DOUBLE the amount of greenhouse gases America produces from our cars and planes.1
It's the greatest single threat to solving the climate crisis in a decade.
It sounds crazy. But Congress is rushing through a package that could lock us into liquid coal as our country's new energy source for transportation. For every mile driven, coal-based fuels produce as much as twice as many greenhouse gases as petroleum.2 That means even a Prius would drive like a Hummer.
The coal industry has been lobbying for this break for years, and many in Congress don't understand the facts. Can you sign on to our petition opposing liquid coal right now—and then please alert your friends?
"Liquid coal would be a disaster in our fight against the climate crisis. Congress should vote against tax breaks and subsidies for coal."
The legislation would take billions in taxpayer dollars to build up to 10 more dirty coal plants, provide taxpayer subsidies when the fuel can't compete on the open market, and guarantee that the government will buy this fuel no matter what.3
First of all, a big shout out to our fiends at Future Majority ("blogging progressive youth politics") for linking to our CTL coverage. This well written diary (and informed comments) speaks well of their community.
Speaking of well informed comments, there are two lengthy comments here at West Virginia Blue that could easily be their own diaries. First, lifelong resident of Appalachian Virginia va dare shares her valuable perspective in "[http://www.wvablue.c... Repeating my e-mail from last night". Welcome, va dare!
Question. I'm looking for a membership list of the House and Senate CTL Fuel Caucus. Has anyone seen one?
Finally, our dailyKos diary on CTL/MTR has clocked in with over 500 comments! There's the usual chaff with the wheat, but the process of engaging with commenters there (plus commenters here!) really helped distill the key message. Below the break, a first draft:
Is your Senator one of the 12 cosponsors? Is your representative one of the 30 cosponsors in the house? The list is so long I had to put it below the break!
Clem has put a lot of time into diaries detailing the efforts being made to bring Coal to Liquid Technology into being. He pointed out this broadcast on CBS' Early Show with Harry Smith featuring Vice President Al Gore... What a great President he would make.
I am a big fan of Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV-01). He's been right since day one about Iraq. His leadership of the House Natural Resource Committee--starting with rolling back the Republican committee name change--has been a breath of fresh air. He's stood up to the coal mining industry on mine safety issues. I've often wished I had a Rep. here in WV-02 that was half as strong on progressive issues as he is.
But even Rep. Rahall has his blind spots. With proposed coal-to-liquid legislation Rahall (along with a surprisingly long list of other Democrats and Republicans from Appalachia and nearby states) is sending one big fat wet kiss to the coal mining industry.
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