Coal and the United States

I was raised in West Virginia, and lived there till the age of eighteen. My parents
heated with coal from the mines of West Virginia and Kentucky. The coal was taken
from deep in the ground or some coal companies used a method called Strip Mining.
Strip Mining consisted of striping down mountains, destroying the land of trees and
wildlife that was bountiful before this type of mining started. In the area that I lived and
grew up in there were only mines and some factories for people to earn a living. A large
number of my family had worked in the coal mines for many years before my birth in
1955. Growing up in the time of my childhood, I never thought to much about the affect
heating with coal had on the world or human life until many members of my family and
friends was diagnosed with Black Lung. As a teenager I saw people that lived and work
in the coal mines die from the dreaded disease. Many died from cancer, how many was
related to Black Lung, I do not know. In the late seventies many of the steel factories
left the state leaving many without jobs and no way of providing for their families. My
father was one of the many that lost his job. Even now when I go back to the area I
grew up in, I still see the mountain sides being destroyed. Many family and friends still
work in the coal industry today. I know that at least 600 coal burning plants are still
operating today providing many jobs for the people in the United States. The deaths and
health problems still exist and according to some articles an average of 24,000
Americans die as a result of pollution caused by these plants(Coal/
http://greenpeace.org/global warming).

I write this article with mixed heart because growing up in West Virginia, knowing the
damage coal mining has done to the environment and human life causes great stress.
Yes I believe this act is morally wrong because of the damage it creates. On the other
Hand, I have to wonder what damage it would do to a state that depends on the industry
to provide for their families and the life of the many cities in West Virginia, and the other
States, that depend on this industry. The only realistic way to solve the problem facing
not only the people of West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio is to replace the different
states with other forms of employment. One big problem with the solution of shutting
down the coal mines is the education quality of many people involved.

The world has come up with other ways to provide power for the people in the
United States, but there have been many problems with the solutions. The oil drilled
from our water ways and oceans. The disaster with BP is one of the major sources of
problems created by the oil spill. The damage to the fish, loss of wages, and
contaminating the water sources for the coastlines running from Florida to Texas. Again
shutting this industry down creates the same problem as West Virginia would face. It
would put many out of work in this already stresses times with the employment facing
the United States.

When living in Texas I lived within five miles of one of the many nuclear plants in
the United States. Nuclear Plants provide much of the power for the electric companies
that provide electric services to the public. The concern for this type of power is the
radiation it produces. Nuclear Plants not only poses a treat for health reasons, but if
they were ever attacked by foreign enemies, the area I lived in, would be destroyed
along with life.

I know that in the desert area many turbines is used to produce the electric energy
for that area. They are clean and pose less damage than the most common way of
producing electricity.

In the world of technology invented everyday someone should be able to come up

with a cleaner way of producing electricity without the side affects The method has to
provide not only power, but industries to provide employment for those affected.