No one, it seems, likes coal, starting with the White House. In fact, there is a new set of EPA regulations that have been designed to phase out America’s coal-burning power plants. Is this a good thing? Given the current technology, possibly. I put a qualifier on the statement because it would seem we are a nation possessed with designing better video games, WiFi and cell phone design 
than in finding a new generation of efficient coal burning technology, or converting waste into energy or improving solar power so that it is practical and not a show case item. Enter the politics of coal.
Washington, D.C. and political correctness, is about as far away from people who break their backs mining coal as one can imagine. “Carbon” and “carbon emissions” are global warming hot-button issues. As the rules and regulations our government is imposing on coal mining are put into place thousands of men and women involved in the coal mining industry have been put out of work in Appalachia and Wyoming. With the declines in coal mining come declines in railroad freight use, trucking, coal mining equipment and dozens of other related industries.
“Well, that’s Tough”
Yes, I can hear the mock laughter of the arrogant. “Well, that’s just tough!” Mind you, I understand we must do something to cut down on emissions but there are some troubling ethical issues in play. Let us start with the State of New Hampshire.
This past winter was a very frigid one for New England and the east coast in general. Coal burning plants depleted their coal supplies. Rather than sourcing coal from U.S. sources, Public Service of New Hampshire’s Schiller power plant in Portsmouth, New Hampshire bought their coal from Russia. Think about it do the politics of coal make sense? This required freighter transport of thousands of tons of coal nearly 4,000 miles from Latvia. I am not an expert on carbon emissions, but I am fairly certain that moving thousands of tons of coal 4,000 miles requires a fair amount of energy. I would imagine that many other power plants throughout the U.S. will do the same. Apparently, staying warm in the winter is not a politically correct issue so long as the workers mining the coal are Russian or Indonesian or Colombian rather than American.
Up until very recently, America relied on coal to supply about 50 percent of its energy needs. It has been dropping as an energy source as natural gas has been gaining. That may be well and good, but what happens when government pronouncements wipe out an industry? What happens to the workers and all of the trades associated with the industry? Furthermore, if we continue on that line of questioning, why is there no penalty assessed to organizations such as Public Service of New Hampshire?
On one hand, the president and energy commission are telling us that coal is bad, and on the other hand, they approve large scale importation. Why are there no penalties? Once again the politics of coal at work.
Ethically, this is a very valid question. If American workers are losing their jobs because the government has declared coal mining as an undesirable technology, why are no penalties imposed on utility companies importing coal from other countries?
Are we not all part of the same world? I can’t help but wonder if any members of Congress (or any of us for that matter) are kept warm by coal. Should we be assessed for coal power?
Research & Development
Logically, if one industry and tens of thousands of workers are being displaced by political pronouncements, everything within our power should be undertaken to explore viable alternatives. Solar and wind power are not currently the answer. They are Grimm’s Fairy Tales. I wish to Heaven this was not the case, but given our current technology an entire field of solar panels does barely more than power a few homes. Wind power is not much better.
If the government wanted to do well by America, would it not make sense to utilize thousands of displaced workers to help develop new energy technologies?
The ethical approach is not to have one set of rules for American workers and another set for those in Russia or Latvia. It is to realize that we all have a stake in the future. We must advance together. A good place to start is with an ethical discussion of how governmental decisions affect the workers in an industry and what can be done to ease the burden on them. Let’s address the politics of coal in an intelligent way!
Your comments are welcome!
