Continuing on with our Going Green Tips series, Going Green Tip #6 should be no surprise (we’re starting with the big boys). The general tip is to stop using coal power. Easier said than done, right? Maybe, but it is VERY important, and there are a lot of reasons why it’s easier now than ever.
Although it would be fun to talk about all the great energy sources and programs you can use to cut the coal, I think I will save those for future going green tips posts. In this one, I’ll focus on why cutting the coal is so important (so that everyone is clear on why this is such a high priority).
To start with, here is a nice intro on what coal is from the Power Scorecard:
Coal is the solid end-product of millions of years of decomposition of organic materials. In truth, coal is stored solar energy. Plants capture the energy from sunlight through photosynthesis, which directly converts solar energy to plant matter. Animals that then eat the plants to convert that energy again, storing it in their own bodies.
Over millions of years, accumulated plant and animal matter is covered by sediment and stored within the earth’s crust, gradually being transformed into hard black solids by the sheer weight of the earth’s surface. Coal, like other fossil fuel supplies, takes millions of years to create, but releases its stored energy within only a few moments when burned to generate electricity. Because coal is a finite resource, and cannot be replenished once it is extracted and burned, it cannot be considered a renewable resource.
One major issue with the burning of coal is that it is a leading contributor to global warming pollution. In fact, 73% of carbon dioxide emitted from electricity generators comes from coal power plants.
But coal is also a major source of numerous other environmental problems.
- “[C]oal power plants are responsible for 93 percent of the sulfur dioxide and 80 percent of the nitrogen oxide emissions generated by the electric utility industry…. These emissions spawn the acid rain that is eating away red spruce forests in the Northeast and Appalachia, and rob previously pristine streams of brook trout and other fish species in the Adirondacks, upper Midwest and Rocky Mountains,” the Power Scorecard reports.
- “Coal emissions also cause urban smog, which has been linked to respiratory ailments,” the Power Scorecard adds.
- “Coal plants are also a major source of airborne emissions of mercury, a toxic heavy metal…. In the West, about 87 percent of coal is removed from the earth through strip mining, which can contaminate soils with heavy metals and destroy near-surface aquifers. In the East, coal is sometimes mined by removing entire mountain tops to more easily extract the subsurface mineral reserves.”
The Union of Concerned Scientists, which also delves into the massive environmental damages related to coal mentioned above in much more detail, reports that, “Coal generates 54% of our electricity, and is the single biggest air polluter in the U.S.”
Coal and Human Health
Even if you care not for the environment at all, the human health consequences of all of this are humongous. And if you actually took those (alone) into account, the price of coal would be almost twice as high. “In 2005, the health damages caused by coal power cost $120 billion” (emphasis added). Unfortunately, we don’t take the price of our health problems or the price of the environments we destroy into account, and our governments actually subsidize coal to a great degree.
But, you can take these issues into account and can switch to a cleaner power source, yourself. And, at the least, if you are financially strapped and have no affordable options in your area, you can cut your energy usage, in general, which is good for addressing all of the concerns above and is also good for your finances.
Perhaps this should have come earlier in our series, but without a doubt, cutting coal is a major “going green tip,” and something I think we will come back to repeatedly in this series.
Photo Credits: DerGuy82 via flickr & Stuck in Customs via flickr
In Historic Reversal, US House of Representatives Cling to 20th Century Loyalty to Fossil Fuels — While Saudi Arabia Goes Solar | Planetsave
[…] precious lung-destroying jobs in Appalachia than it did in defending the corporate interests of coal and other fossil fuel industries. As detailed in Planetsave previously, the […]
New book, Rooftop Revolution, takes aim at King CONG : Renew Economy
[…] Revolutionaries” in combatting King CONG (that is, the “monolithic dirty energy lobby” Coal, Oil, Nuclear, and […]
Rooftop Revolution: New book takes aim at King CONG : Renew Economy
[…] Revolutionaries” in combatting King CONG (that is, the “monolithic dirty energy lobby” Coal, Oil, Nuclear, and […]
Preparing your home for winter | Planetsave
[…] it, preparing your home for winter is simply a step to saving money, not to mention keeping coal from being burnt for energy. No matter how old, drafty, or even new and well-insulated a house is, […]
Warning Labels for Coal Power Plants, Like on Cigarettes? {CARTOON} – Planetsave.com: climate change and environmental news
[…] Cut the Coal (Going Green Tip #6) […]
Birth Defects MUCH More Common Near Mountaintop Removal – Planetsave.com: climate change and environmental news
[…] Cut the Coal (Going Green Tip #6) […]
Endangered Plant Species List — Saving Endangered Plants – Planetsave.com: climate change and environmental news
[…] Help prevent global warming from escalating by greening your transport, greening your diet, and cutting the coal; […]
GE: Solar Power Cheaper than Fossil Fuels in 5 years – CleanTechnica: Cleantech innovation news and views
[…] also written about the clean economic of renewables compared to nuclear or fossil fuels like coal a number of times. Now, GE predicts another important milestone along these lines in the coming […]
WV Coal Miners “Keeping the Lights On” Installing Solar Arrays! – Planetsave.com: climate change and environmental news
[…] Virginia coal miners have always taken pride in supplying energy to the world. Although their work hours are long […]
Mass Bird & Fish Deaths Caused by Hydraulic Fracking and Earthquakes? – Planetsave.com: climate change and environmental news
[…] intended) and probably in other places as well. While many consider gas a greener alternative to coal (what isn’t cleaner than coal?), it still has many negative ramifications, serious ones. You […]
Clean Coal Does Not Exist – Planetsave.com: climate change and environmental news
[…] in the business, those living in coal country, and various scientific studies: nothing can make coal clean. Nonetheless, the myth keeps on circulating (I wonder why). I think it coal’s numerous […]
Clean Coal Carolers? [VIDEO] – Planetsave.com: climate change and environmental news
[…] all know that coal is still a long way from being “clean,” but in a desperate attempt to convince us of […]
Energy Mix Predictions for 2035 – CleanTechnica: Cleantech innovation news and views
[…] obvious reasons, dirty coal is facing a lot of environmental regulatory hurdles (see below), not even counting potential […]
Infamous Massey Energy Chairman and CEO Announces Retirement – Planetsave.com: climate change and environmental news
[…] in the operation of one of the most infamous companies in the U.S., but it seems this large coal power company couldn’t do things much worse than they have been. Massey Energy Chairman and […]
Facebook Going Green(wash)? – Planetsave.com: climate change and environmental news
[…] its green actions and other green news, but Facebook still hasn’t adequately responded to its coal […]
Go Solar (Going Green Tip #9) – Planetsave.com: climate change and environmental news
[…] in this Going Green Tips series, one of the most important things we can do to go green is cut the coal. Cutting the A/C, especially if you live in a hot climate, is one great way to do so, as is getting […]
Go Microhydro (Going Green Tip #10) – Planetsave.com: climate change and environmental news
[…] discussed in previous articles, a great way to go green is to cut the coal and a great way to do that is to go solar. There are other clean energy options available for homes […]
West Virgina Activists Risk Arrest, Plant Trees on Mountaintop Removal Mining Site – Planetsave.com: climate change and environmental news
[…] pretty frequently. It is the horrible process of blowing the tops off mountains to get out dirty coal to burn for electricity, which then contributes greatly to global warming, water pollution, air […]
Google Hits Geothermal Jackpot in West Virginia – CleanTechnica
[…] implications are rather clear: West Virginia could kick its dirty coal and mountaintop removal habit and start tapping into geothermal. This would be a benefit for the […]
Appalachia Rising [VIDEO] – Planetsave
[…] removal coal mining is bad stuff. It is destroying habitats and communities, poisoning people, and annihilating […]
Going Green Tip #7: Cut the Air Conditioning – Planetsave
[…] most recent Going Green Tips post was on “cutting the coal.” One of the best ways to cut the coal is to cut back on your electricity usage, and one of […]
Green Business Blog Carnival #14 – Planetsave
[…] the “power mix” it is supplied (i.e. if it gets its power from renewable energy or from dirty coal). Greenpeace, in response, has made it more than clear what Facebook should already know, that as a […]