West Virginia Blue
The Best Blogging Community in West Virginia Democratic politics, progressive policies, the good life and free living in Wild, Wonderful West Virginia.
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.
I'm still trying to figure out exactly how (or if) they plan to sequester CO2. Also, there's no details on where the waste by-products will go either.
The fancy slide show on the company makes it sound like every bit of toxic stuff in coal can be repackaged as a valuable commercial product. Somehow, I'm a wee bit skeptical about that, too.
For all the sound and fury from Clean Coal advocates, it is worth noting this project is a real loser for job creation. At $3,000,000,000 spent, it will only generate 200 permanent jobs in West Virginia after it goes online in half a decade.
I'm still trying to figure out exactly how (or if) they plan to sequester CO2. Also, there's no details on where the waste by-products will go either.
The fancy slide show on the company makes it sound like every bit of toxic stuff in coal can be repackaged as a valuable commercial product. Somehow, I'm a wee bit skeptical about that, too.
For all the sound and fury from Clean Coal advocates, it is worth noting this project is a real loser for job creation. At $3,000,000,000 spent, it will only generate 200 permanent jobs in West Virginia after it goes online in half a decade.
(Coal to liquid news from our neighbors to the Southwest. - promoted by Clem Guttata)
From Huffington Post:
(Excerpt)
Converting coal to liquid fuel has not been used on a large scale since the 1930's when Nazi Germany developed the technology because the country had lots of coal but no petroleum of its own.
But the sell-job is well underway right now in Kentucky to re-frame coal to liquid as a miracle answer to America's energy woes.
Deserving of praise: Chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, Democrat Nick Rahall of West Virginia and other congressmen say wolves still endangered...
Five congressmen from the House Natural Resources Committee want to delay a plan to remove gray wolves in the Northern Rockies from the federal endangered species list.
In a letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, the congressmen wrote that states "hostile to wolf conservation" could reduce today's 1,500 wolves to "as few as 300" if the predators lose protected status.
"Matewan stands as an important landmark in the heritage of the American miner and the history of the American labor movement," said Rahall. "In that old coal mining town are found the remnants of a struggle that shaped our nation's workplace values and ensured generations of miners a better life."
Making the battle site a component of the National Park Service, Rahall said, "will ensure future generations will understand and appreciate West Virginia's role in America's historic fight for industrial democracy and workers' rights."
Rahall, D-W.Va., says energy bills passed by Congress in the past focused on renewable standards and other standards for the automobile industry. He says the new global climate change legislation must have more incentives for coal-to-liquid technologies and processes.
"I stand firmly behind the coal-to-liquid process, not only because of its importance to West Virginia but also for importance to national security," Rahall said last week during an interview with The Register-Herald's editorial board. "The country must continue to move away from its dependence on foreign oil and also continue to develop more domestic sources of energy."
Coal-to-liquid is not a viable domestic energy source that also addresses global warming. There is no proven large-scale carbon sequestration technology. Yes, we will be using coal for decades to come, but "doubling down" on coal is a recipe for global warming disaster (not to mention the increased social and environmental pressures of mountain top removal).
Does Rahall acknowledge any other options? (Negawatts, alternative fuels, or, even, nuclear?) Well, there is this quote (empahsis mine) from the Bluefield Daily Telegraph...
Rahall also remains a strong advocate of coal-to-liquid technologies, and believes the creation of new clean coal technologies is absolutely vital to the nation's future, and the country's ability to be "weaned away from foreign oil."
However, Rahall warns the coal industry is under attack.
"Coal is definitely coming under attack these days," Rahall said. "It's not just the environmentalists. Coal is coming under attack by other domestic oil sources. I'm not against gas. So natural gas should not be against coal."
Well, ain't karma a bitch. Rahall will have a lot more credibility on this issue when he starts talking about wind, solar and biomass as equally valuable domestic energy sources.
I'm not against underground coal mining, so why should Rep. Nick Rahall be against wind, solar and biomass?
News from your "friends" at the Coal to Liquid Coaltion
Air Force conducts first-ever transcontinental Fischer-Tropsch fuels test; conducts B-1 engine test--Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne joined Rep. Jim Saxton (R-N.J.) and a delegation of industry leaders and armed forces personnel at a Dec. 17 ceremony at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey to welcome a C-17 cargo jet powered by an FT fuel blend that took off from McChord Air Force Base in Washington state.
Senate approved farm bill extends CTL tax credit Included in the tax portion of H.R. 2419 is a provision that extends an existing 50 cent per gallon fuel excise tax credit for CTL until 2010 and requires CTL producers to capture and store 50 percent of carbon dioxide emissions.
Gov. Manchin calls for five CTL plants in West Virginia Providing the coal to support five CTL plants would require a 15 percent increase in annual coal production, according to the plan, with production in 2006 totaling nearly 149 million tons.
EIA predicts increased coal production to meet domestic CTL needs The Energy Information Administration (EIA) Annual Energy Outlook 2008, revised upwards by 40 percent its previous projection regarding the amount of coal needed by 2030 to meet demand for domestic coal-to-liquid (CTL) fuels. 157 million tons of coal See: http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ae...
ct. 4,the Senate Finance Committee unanimously approved Sens. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) and Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.)amendment to a larger tax package focused on aiding the reauthorization of federal agricultural support programs. The amendment extends for another year until 2010 the existing 50 cent per gallon fuel excise tax credit in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 for coal-to-liquid (CTL) fuels and requires CTL producers to capture and store 50 percent of carbon dioxide emissions. CTL producers could be required to capture and store 75 percent of carbon dioxide emissions should an independent arbitration panel determine that such a level is commercially feasible.
Sen. Dorgan introduces new CTL legislation
Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) on Oct. 4 introduced the "Coal Fuels and Industrial Gasification Demonstration and Development Act of 2007."
(They just won't give up on CTL... good points Beth - promoted by wvblueguy)
Jodi Deal of The Coalfield Progress in Norton reports in "Coalfield Research Center May Get Funds" October 9 (subscription required) that The Virginia Tobacco Commission (which distributes grants from the state's share of the national settlement with cigarette manufacturers will dole out a $1 million in blood money (lung money?) to a proposed coal research and development facility at the Lonesome Pine Business and Technology Park east of Wise, Virginia near the Kentucky border.
"Coal companies and Virginia Tech are expected to work together at the facility, which is eventually intended to support a coal-to-liquid fuels industry throughout the coalfields and seek out other alternative energy sources, according to the county's application to the tobacco commission."
And how, exactly does this stop smoking and contribute to the public health?
Well the grant application estimated 200 new high-wage jobs would "likely" be created.. Maybe the facility will have a no-smoking policy, in a tribute to its funding source?
This just in from Jamison Foser, Managing Director. Media Matters for America, on an attack on john Edwards, who has spoken out against CLT:
This spring, NBC chief Pentagon correspondent Jim Miklaszewski took $30,000 from the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce to address its Business EXPO 2007. During his talk, Miklaszewski attacked a prominent presidential candidate.
As Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz pointed out in 2002, professional journalists accepting fees for speaking engagements is widely frowned upon by the media and a "number of news organizations including, ABC and NBC, [have] banned the practice."
As I've already mentioned, I subscribe to the mailing list of the National Mining Association's Advocacy Campaign Team for Mining, its "grassroots" (astroturf) group. http://www.actformining.com
Here's its description verbatim: Now more than ever the mining industry's employees, customers, shareholders and other stakeholders need to be informed and part of the solution. The National Mining Association's Advocacy Campaign Team for Mining (ACT) is a national network of individuals from the who recognize the importance of being involved in the political process and being informed about the public policy debates that are shaping the future of the mining industry in America.The Advocacy Campaign Team for Mining (www.actformining.com) provides users with the resources to learn about the issues important to the mining industry and the tools necessary to communicate with legislators at all levels of government.
Yep, and by subscribing you will also have the tools to fight the industry when they don't have our best interest at heart. (almost always). If you want their mailings ask for a sub from bkelley@nma.org.
Here's the group's latest Legislative Update. I quote it in full for your education below the fold. Here are the headlines:
"Mine Safety treads on dangerous ground in the House."--George Miller supplemental bill to the MINER Act of 2006
"Rahall to host coal-to-liquid conference with the CTLC"--includes a link on how to register. Protest anyone? Aug. 14-15 at the Glade Springs Resort in Beckley, W.Va.
"Hearings scheduled for the clean water protection act" --House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure today and Thursday
"Buzz and Ballots" (pro-clt coverage at the Baltimore Sun and scientificblogging.com)
Regarding this last category, I think we should be writing letters to the editor to respond or op-eds. To facillitate this on the latter site, I've set up a column to comment on mtr and clt and mining legislation:
email me at beth_blog AT yahoo DOT com if you want me to post content there and if anyone can help me with the banner so it will stretch correctly, the original is here:
This week long retreat will feature Social Justice * Energy Justice * Climate Justice * Non-violence * Democracy skills
Come learn about false solutions to climate change (“clean coal” and nuclear) — build real-world skills for real climate solutions; organizing; action. )
I'ts affordable: $50 -- $100, sliding scale with scholarships available. Meals and tent camping included in registration OR stay in area motels; limited Asheville home-stays possible. Daily:
intensive workshops on anti-oppression, basics and advanced issues in energy, environment, climate, local/global sustainability, democracy skills
all issue sessions will include strategic thinking and planning, spanning local to global
community time, shared chores, yoga, evening campfire, music
Panels/Workshops include:
Confronting False Solutions to Climate Change including “clean coal” and nuclear power
Anti-oppression leadership training
Strategic Campaign building
Grandparents of our movement telling stories of past victories
Nukes 101, Fossil Fuels 101, Organizing 101
Global Nuclear Energy Partnership and its Global Mobile Chernobyl
Countering mountain top removal and challenging expanding coal energy plans
Principles of non-violent activism
Climbing and other action skills
Making big puppets
Homegrown sustainability – wind, solar, energy efficiency, permaculture, small hydro, small biofuels
That's why I want to talk to you today about just one of the ways I will take up the fight against climate change as president. Coal is the dominant source of electricity in America and it will be for decades to come, but we need to find a way to use it without heating the planet.
"So as president, I will stop big coal from building a single new power plant in America that doesn't have the technology to capture their carbon emissions.
"The government reports that the coal industry and their financial backers on Wall Street are planning to build around 150 new coal-fired power plants to meet rising energy demand in the next few decades. That would add more than 800 million metric tons of CO2 to our environment a year. That's 40 percent more than we're emitting now. That's when we know we need to go in exactly the opposite direction. And an estimated 30,000 Americans die every year from diseases linked to pollution from coal-fired plants.
"This is not something they are talking about in Washington. In the energy bill debate two weeks ago, some people actually tried to wrap increased pollution in the flag, saying that investing in more traditional coal-fired plants - or even worse, new fuels made out of liquid coal, which is a terrible idea - is the patriotic thing to do for America because coal is abundant here at home.
"Here's what I say to this: it's not moral leadership if we reduce imports of oil but increase our exports of carbon pollution. We're already 4 percent of the world's population emitting 25% of its greenhouse gases.
"That's not the America we want to be. As president, I will take back our democracy from these powerful interests so that regular people can change this country.
"Not only am I going to stop coal-fired power plants from adding to our pollution problems, but I will reduce our emissions, doing what the global community asked America to do at the recent G8 summit: cut the world's carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2050.
"It's time for the President of the United States to ask Americans to be patriotic about something other than war.
snip
"Utilities that today profit by selling more and more polluting energy will have to help customers save electricity, and open up their grids to power produced locally, with rooftop solar panels and local wind turbines.
"Automakers that are squeezing profits out of high-polluting SUVs will have to develop the cars of the future with a 40 miles-per-gallon fuel economy standard.
"None of this is going happen unless we demand it. The oil companies won't do it. The utilities won't do it. The coal companies won't do it. And as we saw with the energy bill, Washington won't do it. Our generation has to do it - we cannot wait for somebody else to take responsibility"
John Edwards is also urging others to join him in supporting the Live Earth Pledge and "asking supporters to raise our voice and roll up our sleeves to solve the global climate crises."
(Welcome to WVaBlue Beth! - promoted by wvblueguy)
"The Senate energy bill started out fairly weak, and we don't see the debate getting any better," complained Eric Pica, who represented Friends of the Earth at a protest by environmentalists on the Senate grounds June 14.
"The coalition of conservation groups had planned to dump a ton of coal on Senate parkland -- they had hauled the anthracite from Baltimore in a rented cargo van (12 miles per gallon). But Capitol Police objected, and the environmentalists had to settle for 20 small buckets of the stuff. "We're going to blacken our hands with the coal," one of the organizers offered the disappointed camera crews."
the Capitol Police tried to disband the press conference by claiming the flammable qualities of coal could severely put the members of Congress in harms way…Mind you the suspicious package in Union Station that caused an entire building evacuation at the same time (right across the street) didn’t slow down any legislator that day.
The genius minds over at CCAN worked through the problem. Ted Glick, the event organizer, changed plans so that the coal would be placed in smaller buckets and still visible for the media…so that it wasn’t dangerously flammable anymore. Gordon Clark, another CCAN organizer, carefully shoveled the coal into each bucket as press crews fought to get that special shot or clip of the coal knocking around from shovel to bucket.
Then the Capitol Police had one more target–the tripods for the press cameras!! Anne Havemann, CCAN’s Communications Director, rallied numerous press outlets to attend the (what?!) press conference. A total of 5 major networks and several other print sources were on site to report the event. The demand to remove the tripods was either harassment or jealousy. Thankfully, the Capitol Police did not stop the cameras or the tripods, and everything went as planned.
Copyright 2009 West Virginia Blue
Site content may be used for any purpose without explicit permission unless otherwise specified.
This site exists thanks to financial support from BlogPAC, the tireless efforts of volunteer contributors and continued participation from this community. The views expressed at West Virginia Blue belong soley to their respective authors.
