Eleven generations of Dustin White’s family have lived in West Virginia. Many of them were buried in a cemetery now surrounded by a massive mountaintop removal coal mine. … [Read more...]
Health Organizations, Help Indonesia Kick the Coal Habit
A plan to pollute: Indonesians’ lungs have been exposed to significant pollution in the past few years, from forest fire haze to increasing amounts of motor vehicle exhaust. A study looking at the greater Jakarta area attributed 3,700 premature deaths per year to air pollution from 2012 to 2015. … [Read more...]
Coal Mining: Jobs to Die For?
For every one to two jobs a non miner dies each year. If you open the papers it seems like the current administration thinks that coal is the next hot thing. As Governor Schwarzenegger put it, this is a bit like getting excited about the comeback of Blockbuster VHS rentals. … [Read more...]
Benefiting from Green Jobs
The renewable energy industry and its proponents regularly draw attention to the industry’s job creation potential. For example, the American Wind Energy Association reported that the US wind industry supported 88,000 jobs at the start of 2016, a 20% increase in one year. The Solar Foundation announced there were over 260,000 solar workers in 2016, which was a 25% increase over the prior year. … [Read more...]
Trump Slams Brakes on Obama’s Climate Plan, But There’s Still a Long Road Ahead
Badly looking for a political win that would both fulfill some campaign promises to his political base and satisfy the demands of rank-and-file Republicans in Congress, President Trump on March 28 signed an Energy Independence and Economic Growth Executive Order. … [Read more...]
Coal Miners, Extractive Industries, and a Sustainable Economy
The transition to a renewable economy may be a painful one, particularly in this era of aversion to active government. When New York City endured the difficult transition from a commercial and small manufacturing city to today's post-industrial megacity, we nearly went broke. One of the reasons for our financial distress was the need to pay for a highly stressed social welfare system which, while far from perfect, provided more help for poor … [Read more...]
Former Coal Mining CEO Faces Prison Over West Virginia Safety Violations
The indictment of a former coal mining CEO over safety violations Thursday sent a “strong message,” said the United Mine Workers of America. Don Blankenship faces four criminal counts and up to 31 years in prison for alleged safety violations at mines operated by Massey Energy, which he headed from 2000 until his retirement in 2010.“The carnage that was a recurring nightmare at Massey mines during Blankenship’s tenure at the head of that company … [Read more...]
Krugman: In The Real War On Coal, The Mining Industry Won And Workers Lost
CREDIT: EIAPaul Krugman has another column in the New York Times explaining that slashing carbon pollution has a small economic impact while “the consequences will be terrible if we don’t take quick action.”For those raising concerns about the impact on coal miners, he offered this chart in his blog of total mining jobs from Historical Statistics of the United States (HSUS) and the FRED database:As he explains, “strip mines and machinery in … [Read more...]
Are Australia’s Coal Mining Plans Myopic?
Australia is not setting the perfect example for a development model that emerging countries can emulate. The government of Queensland, along with the Federal government recently relaxed their guidelines that governed the mining industry for excavation of coal in areas surrounding the Great Barrier Reef. The rapid demand for coal and energy, and the subsequent lure of economical growth and jobs has been a primary force in the government’s … [Read more...]
American Banks Court Controversy With Coal India Offering
Ignoring human rights abuses and coal's uncertain future, big banks line up for piece of world's largest coal miner Co-authored by Ashish Fernandes, a campaigner with Greenpeace Green is in on Wall Street. Or so you'd think, if you believe the sustainability policies of some of the United States' biggest banks. Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley all have paid lip service to environmental sustainability and the … [Read more...]
Goldman Sachs Finds Window For Profitable Investment In Coal Mining Is Closing
Goldman Sachs has put out a must-read research paper, “The window for thermal coal investment is closing.” Thermal (or steam) coal is primarily used to generate power.The U.S.-based multinational investment bank has some sobering findings for the dirtiest fossil fuel:We believe that thermal coal’s current position atop the fuel mix for global power generation will be gradually eroded by the following structural trends: 1) environmental … [Read more...]
India, Coal Imports, And Energy Security
"If you want to import coal, gas or petrol, it is freely available. But the problem is that imported coal is 60 to 70 per cent more expensive," Chairman of the India Planning Commission, Montek Ahluwalia.Mr. Ahluwalia's quote says it all: the Indian coal sector is in shambles and imports are a part of the problem, not the solution. Even though India is home to one of the world’s largest coal deposits the country can't mine coal fast enough let … [Read more...]
Energy Facts: Is the U.S. Shift from Coal to Natural Gas Stalling Out?
Time again for your Friday Energy Facts: this week, is the historic shift from coal to natural gas in the U.S. electric power sector stalling out? According to the latest projections from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), coal consumption in the United States electric power sector is expected to rise 52.2 million short tons (MMst) in 2013 and 9.2 MMst in 2014, eroding some of the historic declines in coal use experienced … [Read more...]
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