After reading the next section in Lost Mountain, I find myself siding more and more with the idea of banning coal mining. This second part was really moving in many ways, first starting of with the flyrock. Flyrock is everything that scatters when the explosives are detonated (P. 88). The example that was the scariest to me was about the older couple that was sitting around their pool and a massive bolder came flying into the pool and cracking the cement underneath. This presents a huge problem because the coal mining companies are not always following the rules about staying a certain distance from residence, which in turn will most likely kill humans as well as all the animals already being killed.
Since I am on the topic of human death, another huge problem that was presented was humans killing themselves off. Krupa said, “With our levels of population and rates of consumption, it’s just a matter of time before we kill ourselves off.” With the rate that people are demanding coal for energy, the environment is taking a huge punishment and will soon be so bad that we will no longer be able to live with a clean environment, especially the water.
The final thing that was the most important to me was the coal slurry impoundment that broke through an underground mine shaft and spilled over 300 million gallons of black, toxic sludge into the headwaters of Coldwater Creek and Wolf Creek (P.129). What worries me about this the most is that after 10 years there is still sludge and the President of the Kentucky Coal Association had claimed that coal is as harmless as mud. This just brings to mind how many different ideas coal mining companies come up with to try to influence the public that coal is clean and not a threat to the environment.
After reading this much of Lost Mountain, I am already changing my initial thoughts about using coal as a primary source of energy and now believe that we must find different ways to create energy that is not such a threat to the environment, and especially to the humans future on earth.
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Well-expressed thoughts. Could you insert a Return between your paragraphs on your posts? This creates a pleasing white space between them and makes it more readable.
ReplyDeleteYour quote about how humans are slowly killing each other off is very true. The population is growing and so is the demand for energy. But, instead of looking for alternate ways of supplying that energy, coal companies are using the old school route, just a a much larger pace. That route being very unhealthy for the environment for all forms of life, including humans.
ReplyDeleteI agree. There has to be a better way, and well, there is a better way. It seems the coal industry has their hands in the pockets of many important people who are meant to actually help those in Appalachia. The corruption is disgusting. When they declared that sludge isn't any worse for the environment than mud, they really must've been kidding themselves. It is so obvious that it is worse, much worse, and it is immediately evident in the health of the residents who live by the slurry ponds.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you commented on the black sludge. I was very taken by Reece's description of it being like lava. Like a volcano, the destruction taking place in Appalachia is long lasting and devastating. I was shocked and dismayed at the amount of corruption that went into this catastrophe. There seem to be many regulations and safety restraints in place, but why are the coal companies choosing to ignore them? That is the part of this book that makes me the most angry. Not only is coal mining destructive, but the companies behind the mining are corrupt and seem to have no respect for others lives. Perhaps if it were their family of friends being covered over with black sludge, things would be different.
ReplyDeleteIt just really shocks me how easy it is for coal companies to get away with blasting so close to peoples homes. It is really amazing how they can do this and not feel guilty for the people they are hurting and how they can have so much disregard for the safety of the citizens just to make more money.
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