Press Room
New Online Video Series Kicks Off, Shows the Real Cost of Coal to America’s Most Endangered Mountains
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008
Contact:
Joel Finkelstein or Kate Geller, (202) 822-5200
Benji Burrell (804) 662-0964
BOONE, NC – Advocates for the mountains and coalfield residents today launched a new series of online videos showing the looming danger to some of America’s most special places: the Appalachian mountains, which are home to a vibrant and indelible culture, stunning biodiversity and enormous economic potential. The videos, at iLoveMountains.org, tell the stories of individuals and communities facing a future where their natural heritage is at risk of being blown up by mountaintop removal coal mining.
“We can find better ways to generate electricity without destroying communities,” said Mary Anne Hitt, Executive Director of Appalachian Voices, which created the videos. “Though too many mountains have been lost, there are many more that can still be saved – and their stories need to be told. Justice must be served to the communities of Appalachia.”
Mountaintop removal coal mining is an extremely destructive form of strip mining found throughout Appalachia, with some mines as big as the island of Manhattan. Coalfield residents say that it tears apart communities, destroys any chance of economic development, poisons water supplies, pollutes the air and destroys our nation’s natural heritage – while only making the climate crisis worse. Features of this new campaign include:
America’s Most Endangered Mountains Videos
http://ilovemountains.org/endangered
The interactive map showcases 10 mountain communities facing a future where their natural heritage is at risk of being blown up by mountaintop removal coal mining. The stories featured in the videos show the reality on the ground in the Appalachian coalfields. Viewers are encouraged to spread the word and support the featured community, with videos that are easily emailed or embedded on any blog or webpage. Like the updated Appalachian Mountaintop Removal Layer in Google Earth, this map incorporates the latests videos, maps, and coal tracking tools from iLoveMountains.org.The Blogger’s Challenge
http://ilovemountains.org/bloggers-challenge
The ultimate resource for bloggers interested in writing about mountaintop removal coal mining which includes embeddable video, coal tracking widgets, news and blog post headline tickers, and customizable “Spread the Word” widgets. These tools will encourage and incubate a community of concerned bloggers who spread the word, collaborate, and take action. The Blogger’s Challenge page also includes a “Blogger’s Impact” map, which shows where the campaign has spread around the country as a result of the challenge.Updated “Appalachian Mountaintop Removal” in Google Earth
http://ilovemountains.org/google_earth_tutorial/
The most advanced content in the Google Earth’s Global Awareness layer now includes the latest videos, mapping, and coal tracking tools available on iLoveMountains.org. In 3-D and with out leaving home, one can take a high resolution tour of a mountaintop removal and see high resolution overlays of mountains before and after mining. The “My Connection” coal tracking tool lets Americans from Maine to California enter their zipcode and see how their electricity is connected to mountaintop removal. With video, stories, and photos, the “Endangered Mountain Videos” and the the “National Memorial for the Mountains” showcase communities threatened or devastated by mountaintop removal mining.
“For too long politicians have written off mountaintop removal coal mining as solely an environmental issue, but these videos show that it is so much more,” said Hitt. “The electricity that comes into your home when you flip your light switch may come at the cost of a community’s health, its economy, and even its culture. And that means it’s up to you to do something about it.”
The effort to end mountaintop removal has been gaining steam over the past year. As of today, the leading Congressional plan to end the practice has 140 co-sponsors – dozens more than in the last Congress, with months still to go.
December 4th, 2008 at 1:49 am
Those coal companies are putting URANIUM, ARSENIC, LEAD, etc. into the water, in case you wondered why your drinking water is black.
Coal is mostly carbon, but the complete list of impurities in coal includes every
element in the periodic table. The major impurities are, depending on where
you found it: URANIUM, ARSENIC, LEAD, MERCURY, Antimony, Cobalt,
Nickel, Copper, Selenium, Barium, Fluorine, Silver, Beryllium, Iron, Sulfur,
Boron, Titanium, Cadmium, Magnesium, Calcium, Manganese, Vanadium,
Chlorine, Aluminum, Chromium, Molybdenum and Zinc. Coal smoke and
cinders are commercially viable ORE for the above elements. Chinese industrial
grade coal contains much more arsenic than American coal. Chinese industrial
grade coal is sometimes stolen by peasants for cooking. The result is that the
whole family dies of arsenic poisoning. Coal varies a lot. You have to analyze
it not only mine by mine but even lump by lump. Coal is a rock. It comes out
of the ground. What would you expect of a rock? Coal also contains organics.
When they dump overburden, it inevitably contains “stony coal,” by which I mean
a combination of ordinary rock and coal.
Reference:
OUR NUCLEAR FUTURE:
THE PATH OF SELECTIVE IGNORANCE
by Alex Gabbard
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Oak Ridge, TN
Selections from the 19th Annual Conference
SOUTHERN FUTURE SOCIETY
March 14,15,16, 1996
Nashville, Tennessee
Published by the
SOUTHERN FUTURE SOCIETY
1996
Edited by Jack D. Arters, Ed.D.
Conference Director
The truth is, all natural rocks contain most natural elements. Coal is a rock.
The average concentration of uranium in coal is 1 or 2 parts per million. Illinois
coal contains up to 103 parts per million uranium. A 1000 million watt coal
fired power plant burns 4 million tons of coal each year. If you multiply 4
million tons by 1 part per million, you get 4 tons of uranium. Most of that is
U238. About .7% is U235. 4 tons = 8000 pounds. 8000 pounds times .7% =
56 pounds of U235. An average 1000 million watt coal fired power plant puts
out 56 to 112 pounds of U235 every year. There are only 2 places the uranium
can go: Up the stack or into the cinders.
Since a reactor full fuel load is around 11 tons of 2% U235 and 98% U238, and
one load lasts about 10 years, and what one coal fired power plant puts into the
air and cinders fully fuels a nuclear power plant.
Compare 4 Million tons per year with 1.1 tons per year. 1.1 divided by 4 Million
= 2.75 E -7 = .000000275 =.0000275%. Remember that only 2% of that is
U235. The nuclear power plant needs ~44 pounds of U235 per year. The coal
fired power plant burns coal by the trainload. The nuclear power plant consumes
U235 in such small quantities yearly that you could carry that much weight in a
briefcase. The full fuel load and the years between fueling varies from reactor to
reactor, but one truck can carry the weight of a full nuclear fuel load.
See also: Oak Ridge National Laboratory Review
and
ORNLReview2
Nuclear power is safe and nuclear fuel is recyclable.
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