Mike Pouraryan
Coal: The Price of Addiction
Al Jazeera is right now reporting about the mine disaster in China. Over 100 miners were saved. But, some 30 miners seem to have lost their lives. The Al Jazeera reporter is trying to find out what is going on. As this happened in China, The U.S. State of West Virginia suffered one of its' worst mining disasters in over 20 years.
Coal continues to be a mainstay of electrical power generation throughout the world. I was shocked to find out that 50% of the U.S Electrical Power is dependent upon coal. West Virginia has been coal country for some 200 years. But, Coal is becoming increasingly tough to mine. They are starting to strip mountains which is wrecking the environment. Although The U.S. has stringent safety standards, the work is still dangerous and the miners deserve every penny they receive for their back breaking work.
These two disasters ought to wake up the world. We have to figure out how to stop bleeding the World dry and stop such addiction. It requires courage and vision, instead of talking about concepts like clean coal which is a bit of an oxymorone anyway. Where is the courage to think different as we approach Earth Day?
Coal continues to be a mainstay of electrical power generation throughout the world. I was shocked to find out that 50% of the U.S Electrical Power is dependent upon coal. West Virginia has been coal country for some 200 years. But, Coal is becoming increasingly tough to mine. They are starting to strip mountains which is wrecking the environment. Although The U.S. has stringent safety standards, the work is still dangerous and the miners deserve every penny they receive for their back breaking work.
These two disasters ought to wake up the world. We have to figure out how to stop bleeding the World dry and stop such addiction. It requires courage and vision, instead of talking about concepts like clean coal which is a bit of an oxymorone anyway. Where is the courage to think different as we approach Earth Day?
