The collapse of coal

Why burn coal when solar energy is the clean solution?

From mining to consumption to the restoration of the land, the U.S. coal industry is hanging on by a thread. The reason for the collapse is inside our heads. Thinking rivers, forests, mountains, and everything we see are “natural resources” to use as we see fit, makes us behave as if we are superior to the natural world. Believing more is better and anything that makes a profit is good for the economy ignores what really matters. Environmental protections that get in the way are discarded as if we are here only to make money. This narrow perspective is destroying the beauty of nature.

Indigenous people understand clean air and water are the sources of life, and everything around us deserves care and respect. Biologists understand how living organisms and nature interact, function, and relate in symbiotic and surprising ways. Nature has the best designs, let’s work harmoniously with nature.

Coal mining

To understand the cost of coal it is important to start at the beginning. Giant machines and explosives are used to remove up to 800 feet of mountain elevation. In Appalachia, over 500 mountains have been destroyed and about 2,000 miles of streams have been permanently ruined. A small crew can destroy a mountain in a matter of months, with dedicated coal trains running around the clock.

Capturing carbon emissions

Carbon emissions have been ignored for too many years with the promise that the utilities would find a way to make them disappear. Seven years ago, in a WSJ interview “When will we get to Clean Coal?” Nick Akins, CEO of American Electric Power said the utilities would find a way to capture carbon emissions and store them in the ground, “because we have to.” AEP stopped building new coal plants after the first and last ultra-supercritical coal-fired plant.

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, mentioned ESI Jan. 27 in Coal Deception, says he has a plan to continue mining coal by lobbying to keep burning coal. Gordon claims, “burning coal will solve the climate emergency.” To validate his claim, Gordon is experimenting with a new power plant to look for ways to capture carbon dioxide and inject it into the ground near wells, hoping to increase oil production from fracking. Wyoming was granted a permit to build a 1,100-mile carbon dioxide pipeline, going from the new coal plant to fracking wells. The Bureau of Land Management signed the papers just before President Biden took office.

There are several problems with Gordon’s “climate solution.” No one knows how to capture carbon dioxide from a power plant. The pipeline has not been built and no one is willing to build it. The idea of injecting carbon dioxide has been around for years but has not worked. Increasing the number of barrels of oil would increase carbon dioxide emissions when the oil is burned! If it all worked out, this pipedream would make the climate emergency worse!

Gordon’s dream is guaranteed to fail. Last week, NRG Energy gave up on the Petra Nova coal plant, a $1 billion carbon capture system (CCS) “enhanced oil recovery” project, the latest attempt to make fracking profitable. Petra Nova was meant to capture a portion of the carbon dioxide from burning coal and pipe the gas 81 miles to the West Ranch oil field. The permanent closure is the death of coal.

Financial collapse

Over 10 U.S. coal companies have gone out of business in the last four years. The coal legacy will be environmental destruction and poor public health for generations. Mining regulations require bonds to clean and restore the land, but when companies quit and run the people are left holding the bag.

Stop burning

Carol Overland says, “carbon capture ain’t happenin’ and we’d best be dealing with the climate emergency and stop pretending CCS will save us.” Please read Climate Hope: On the Front Lines of the Fight Against Coal by Ted Nace, an inspiring story of the power of brilliant legal strategy and grassroots success. Overland and James Hansen are the stars of the story.

Dr. Luis Contreras