Mountain top removal
11 Feb 10 | Conservation, EnvironmentEvery time anyone says “clean coal technologies” I cringe. This goes back to what I wrote about in the last post, the true cost of energy in this country. Everyone complains of high taxes, deficit spending and the like. No one thinks twice about when they turn on a light switch, they just expect it to work. Moving that switch from “off” to “on” is a part of your tax dollars at work. Here are some of the things that money is paying for:
- Subsides for large oil and coal corporations to fund exploration and technological developments
- Payments into medicare, medicaid and other medical programs to treat persons near the mining sites for illnesses related to release of chemicals into air and water
- Payments into environmental funds to pay for cleanup and mitigation of pollution
- Payments into government assistance programs for displaced persons in coal mining areas
- Payments to medical entitlement programs to treat those near coal fired power plants for illnesses
- Losses incurred due to acid rain in east coast forests, lakes, ponds and streams
- Losses in the seafood industry due to increased mercury levels in higher fish species
- incalculable costs of added pollutants such as Uranium, Thorium, Mercury, Nickel, et. al in the environment and the effects such have on developing human beings
Then there is the human costs, as this video shows:
The old adage “out of sight, out of mind,” is what the coal companies and their congressional sponsors are hoping for. There is no such thing as clean coal.
Tags: Environment
11 Feb 10 | Conservation, Environment

