Lifecycle of Coal
The mining, processing, transportation, burning and disposal of coal is toxic, wasteful, and harms communities in Appalachia and across the country.
Coal is the largest source of electricity in the US, as well as the largest contributor to global warming. The US needs to move away from coal, but instead there are plans to build 150 new coal fired power plants.
Coal claims to be cheap electricity, but count in federal subsidies, health costs from air and water pollution, water shortage, loss of land and heritage, and the cost of global warming.
The Injustice of Coal
Coal mining, burning and waste disposal often occurs in poor communities or communities of color, while wealthier, white communities are left alone. This is a form of environmental injustice. Because these folks have fewer resources to fight back, their homes can become sacrifice zones for cheap electricity.
Toxins from coal build up near power plants and disposal sites, causing illnesses like asthma, heart disease and cancer to increase.
The poverty rate of people living within one mile of power plant waste facilities is twice as high as the national average.
Communities of color are 30% more likely to live near a coal power plant.
118 of the 120 coal producing counties have high poverty rates.
To stop the dirty impacts of coal, we must work to build a clean, just energy future that benefits and includes all of us—not just those that can afford it.
Burning coal
Burning coal generates Carbon Monoxide, Sulfur Dioxide (cause of acid rain), Nitrogen oxide, lead, arsenic, mercury, and other heavy metals.
Coal fired power plants use about 2.2 billion gallons of water per plant per year, enough water for a city of 250,000 people
Coal fired power plants release 40% of mercury toxins —the largest source in the US.
A typical plant emits 170 pounds of mercury in one year, where just 1/70th of a teaspoon deposited on a 25-acre lake can make the fish unsafe to eat.
Pollution from existing power plants causes 24,000 premature deaths annually.
Coal waste
Coal waste is unregulated and more than 100 million tons are generated each year. It is placed into unlined pits or used in wallboard, cement, or as "anti-skid" material on icy roads.
According to an EPA study, cancer risk is 10,000 times higher near coal disposal sites.
Elisa Young's experience with coal in southeast Ohio: http://blip.tv/file/876774
Impacts of the coal lifecycle: http://www.catf.us/publications/reports/Cradle_to_Grave.pdf