There was a time in history when
people didn’t have cars, when people didn’t have planes, and people rarely
traveled more than twenty or thirty miles from their home. There was a time
when most production came from a farm or a skilled tradesman. This all began to
change starting with the industrial revolution, a revolution largely powered by
coal.
Today, trips across the country and around the world are
common. Today we can communicate instantly with anyone around the world. Today
we even have boxes whose sole purpose is to record our favorite shows all so
that we are not inconvenienced by missing them in the rush of our busy lives.
Today a large percentage of energy still comes from coal, despite the
introduction of numerous other technologies that could reduce the need for
coal.
However, industry doesn’t want to hear this. For them, coal
represents cheap profits. They choose to ignore the fact that when one looks at
the big picture, coal is anything but cheap. Coal is shipped from where it is
mined using coal trains. These coal trains spread coal dust along their route,
increasing the risk of respiratory problems for people who live near them. Furthermore,
there have been close to 20 coal train derailments this year alone.
Despite this, big coal companies such as Arch Coal and
Peabody Energy are proposing to ramp up coal export to China. They seek to
strip mine coal in the Powder River basin in Wyoming and Montana, ship them
through the Northwest on coal trains that could each be over a mile long and
have several export terminals along the northwest coast for shipment overseas
to China. When China burns the coal they would not only be harming their
already compromised environment, but the air pollution could then travel back
across to Pacific, impacting air quality along the west coast.
While it will ultimately be the U.S. Army Corps that
decides whether to approve the permits for coal export terminals in the Pacific
Northwest, the resulting harm will be felt not only here, not only in China, but
also globally. The increased consumption
of coal exacerbates a planet already facing climate change crisis. The reality
of China's environment and the global issues related to these
proposals are addressed by Izzy, an international student, in her recent testimony at the November 3rd Harbor, WA hearings.
As I said, coal became big during the environmental
revolution, but it never took its cue to exit. Because of this, we are long
overdue for another revolution, an environmental revolution where we once and
for all make coal a thing of the past.
Written for SIEL by:
Juan Bacigalupi, 2L
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