Coal

Supreme Court Halts Clean Power Plan, Wide Implications

February 11, 2016 John H. Cushman Jr., www.insideclimatenews.org Educate! Coal, Politics, Regulation, Supreme Court

By John H. Cushman Jr. for Inside Climate News - The Supreme Court put on hold the linchpin of President Obama's climate policy, barring the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday from carrying out the administration's new Clean Power Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from electric power plants. It was a surprising decision of staggering proportions, with repercussions that go far beyond the U.S. electrical grid, threatening the credibility of the Paris Agreement on climate change reached by the world’s nations in December.

Contaminated Water Requires National Public Health Action

February 7, 2016 Drs. Jill Stein and Margaret Flowers, www.truthout.org Educate! Coal, Flint, Fracking, health, Privatization, Uranium, Water, Water Pollution

By Drs. Jill Stein and Margaret Flowers for TruthOut. Most people in the United States know about the accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in March 1979. Although the official reports stated that an "insignificant" amount of radiation was released (this understatement has since been refuted), it is called "America's worst nuclear accident." Very few people know about the actual worst nuclear accident in the United States, which happened three months later in Church Rock, New Mexico. Perhaps this is because it mostly impacted people of the Navajo (Diné) Nation. On July 16, 1979, the wall of a tailings pond for a uranium mill broke open and released 93 million gallons of radioactive waste into the Arroyo Pipeline, a tributary to the Puerco River. The waste traveled 80 miles down the Puerco River into Arizona. Not only is it amazing that this spill was not reported in the media, but it is also remarkable that the governor of New Mexico refused to issue a state of emergency.

NC Coal Ash Victims Angered Over Risk Assessment

January 12, 2016 Sue Sturgis, www.southernstudies.org Resist! Coal, Energy, Environment

By Sue Sturgis for Institute for Southern Studies - After tens of thousands of tons of coal ash and millions of gallons of contaminated water spilled into the Dan River from a waste impoundment at a Duke Energy power plant in North Carolina in 2014, the legislature passed the Coal Ash Management Act requiring the state environmental agency to issue risk ratings for all of the company's coal ash impoundments by the end of 2015 to help set cleanup priorities. According to a draft report made public last month, the Department of Environmental Quality's professional staff determined that 19 of Duke's 32 coal ash ponds pose a high risk to North Carolina communities, meaning that under the law they'd have to be excavated and the wet ash dried and moved to safer lined landfills by August 2019.

Coal Country Trouble: Health Risks Of Retired Miners & Their Families

November 2, 2015 Alec MacGillis, www.propublica.org Educate! Coal, Kentucky, Pensions

By Alec MacGillis for Pro Publica - John R. Leach worked for Peabody Energy Corp. in western Kentucky for 23 years. When he retired, he and his wife Rhonda relied on his pension and health benefits not only for themselves but to care for two severely disabled adult children. So when Peabody notified them in 2007 that their benefits were now the responsibility of a spinoff called Patriot Coal, they had a worrisome premonition. “We said, ‘There’s something going on here that’s not right,’” Rhonda Leach said. The family’s worries were justified. When Patriot filed for bankruptcy two years ago, retiree benefits for thousands of mining families were put at risk.

Montana Activists Victory: Keeping Coal In The Ground

November 1, 2015 Alexis Bonogosky, www.truth-out.org Resist! Climate Change, Coal, Montana

By Alexis Bonogosky for Truth Out - To avoid catastrophic climate change, a recent study in the journal Nature found that 92 percent of coal reserves in the United States must stay in the ground to keep global temperature rise under 2 degrees Celsius. Montana has the largest amount of recoverable coal in the United States, close to 120 billion tons - almostone-quarter of known US reserves. Arch Coal, a major US coal mining and processing company, has been pushing hard to gain access to Montana's coal reserves since 2010. "Montana could be the energy capital of the United States if the state government and the state's community desire that to happen," Arch Coal CEO Steven Leer told the Billings Gazette in 2010 after his company leased 1.5 billion tons of coal in the Otter Creek Valley in southeast Montana.

Washington: Strong Majority Oppose Coal Export

October 18, 2015 Staff, www.powerpastcoal.org Resist! Climate Change, Coal, Environment, health

By Staff of Power Past Coal. LONGVIEW, Wash.– A broad majority of Washington voters across the political spectrum opposes proposals to ship coal by rail for export overseas, according to new results from a telephone survey of 1,200 voters. Significantly, opposition has grown by 18 percent since 2012, and 40 percent strongly oppose the proposals—far exceeding the 17% who strongly support the proposals. Overall, 56 percent of voters oppose coal exports. The diverse opposition spans all income levels and age groups and includes Democrats and independents, liberals and moderates, and union and nonunion households. Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates conducted the survey in September 2015.

Top Coal Executive Faces Criminal Charges

October 10, 2015 Mason Adams, www.grist.org Educate! Accountability, Coal, Coal Mining, Criminal Justice

By Mason Adams for Grist.org. Charleston, W. VA - The autocratic, micro-managing, bludgeoning style that won throwback Appalachian coal baron Don Blankenship the ire of environmentalists, the fear of underlings, and the title “Dark Lord of Coal Country” from Rolling Stone may finally have caught up with him. The opening arguments began today in Blankenship’s federal criminal trial. He faces charges of conspiring to avoid safety laws and lying to regulators that could put him behind bars for up to 31 years. Blankenship casts a long shadow over the Appalachian coal industry. Since the early 1980s, he’s fought labor unions, regulatory agencies, environmental activists, and other coal companies.

US Coal Giant Seeks To Eliminate Health Care For Retirees

September 29, 2015 Samuel Davidson, www.wsws.org Educate! Coal, Health Care, Worker Rights and Jobs

By Samuel Davidson in World Socialist Website - On Monday, bankrupt Patriot Coal Company asked a federal bankruptcy judge to end health care for its 969 retired non-union employees. The company is saying that no one will buy its assets while taking on the health care costs for them. Such a decision will devastate the miners and their families. Years of working in the coal fields bring an array of health problems, from back and spinal injury to black lung. The cost of health care will quickly drive these retirees to use up any savings they may have and to sell their homes, and many will end in bankruptcy themselves. The following day, the company announced that Blackhawk Mining was named the winning bidder for a majority of its mines and operations in Kentucky and West Virginia. In August, Patriot agreed to sell most of its holdings in Virginia to an affiliate of the Virginia Conservation Legacy Funds for $400 million. The VCLF says it plans to reclaim most of the company’s sites.

Labor Unions Say ‘No’ to Coal in Oakland

September 20, 2015 Darwin BondGraham, www.eastbayexpress.com Resist! Coal, Environment, health, Labor

By Darwin BondGraham for East Bay Express. Alameda, CA - The official voice of the labor movement in the East Bay has come out against plans to export coal from Oakland. This morning, the Alameda Labor Council’s executive committee passed a resolution opposing the export of coal from the bulk commodity terminal planned for construction at the city’s former Army Base. The resolution cites health hazards and environmental harms that are likely to result from shipping and storing coal in West Oakland — hazards that will impact both workers and Oakland residents. “Jobs involving coal are unhealthy and unsafe due to dust emissions; coal is increasingly an anti-union industry,” states the resolution.

Largest Coal Port In World Votes To Divest From Carbon

August 27, 2015 Amanda Saunders, www.smh.com.au Resist! Coal, Divestment, Fossil Fuel

By Amanda Saunders in The Sydney Morning Herald - Newcastle, home of the world's biggest coal port, has joined the global fossil fuels divestment push after the city's council voted on Tuesday night to exit holdings in the big four banks if they continue to fund fossil fuels projects. About 80 per cent of the City of Newcastle Council's $270 million investment portfolio is held in the big four banks, mostly through term deposits. Those investments are spread evenly across the big four. But after the council passed a motion on Tuesday night, six votes to five, it will dump holdings in the banks for more "environmentally and socially responsible" institutions when deposits come up for renewal. This will be done only if the rate of return is comparable with the council's holdings in the big four and the council's credit rating criteria is met.

Our Public Lands’ Carbon Bomb

August 21, 2015 Kieran Suckling, www.huffingtonpost.com Educate! Climate Change, Coal, Land, Public

By Kieran Suckling in The Huffington Post - When many people think of America's public lands, they think about pristine, wide-open spaces in the West. But lurking beneath them is a massive carbon bomb that we unleash at our own peril. A new report released Wednesday finds that unleased fossil fuels on public lands and offshore areas - publicly owned fossil fuels controlled by federal agencies - hold up to 450 billion tons of greenhouse gases. If we allow that coal, oil and natural gas to be developed, we'll cripple America's ability to meet its obligation to cut carbon and avoid the worst effects of the global climate crisis. That's why it's never been more clear that President Obama - and whoever comes after him in the White House - needs to pledge to ban new fossil fuel leases on U.S. public lands and offshore coastal areas.

Banking On Coal In Oakland

August 20, 2015 Darwin Bond Graham, www.eastbayexpress.com Educate! Coal, Finance and the Economy, Oakland

By Darwin Bond Graham in East Bay Express - Last April, when plans to ship coal through the old Oakland Army Base became public, Phil Tagami, the master developer of the base, came under fire from local officials and community groups. Tagami, however, downplayed the news, claiming that coal is only one of many goods that might be shipped through a new maritime bulk terminal that he's building on the base. He also said in statements to the press that a $53 million investment that four Utah counties hope to make in the marine terminal would allow these counties to ship potash, hay, salt, and other Utah goods, perhaps including coal, through the facility. But emails, contracts, and reports reviewed by the Express show that the proposed investment in the bulk marine terminal by the Utah counties is, in fact, driven by a secretive Kentucky-based coal company, Bowie Resource Partners, that wants to massively expand its coal mining operations in Utah.

Green Line Of Protest Is Stopping Coal & Oil In Their Tracks

August 16, 2015 Eric de Place, www.daily.sightline.org Resist! Blockades, Coal, Oil, Pipelines

By Eric de Place for Sightline Daily - The Cascadia region has proven to be extraordinarily challenging for those who would turn it into a major carbon energy export hub—so much so that Sightline has taken to calling it the Thin Green Line. Since 2012, a staggering number of schemes have proposed to move large volumes of carbon-intense fuels through Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia to Asian markets. A recent Sightline analysis shows that proposed and newly permitted energy projects in the region would amount to the carbon equivalent of more than five Keystone XL Pipelines. But in big ways and small—from Coos Bay, Oregon, to Prince Rupert, British Columbia—the Thin Green Line has held fast. Big energy projects have faced delays, uncertainty, mounting costs…and then failure. A review of these projects makes clear just how successful the region has been in denying permission to dirty energy companies as it stays true to its heritage as a center of clean energy, sustainability, and forward thinking.

Amsterdam Climate Games A Success

July 5, 2015 Staff, www.popularresistance.org Resist! Climate Change, Coal, Oil and Gas, Sustainable energy

By Staff of Popular Resistance. The Amsterdam Climate Games is back … and this year it’s bigger, bolder, stronger. Again you can take part in this mega action game with your own team. We promise an even bigger spectacle and better awards. The stakes are high with Amsterdam intending to expand its port in support of a growing fossil fuel industry. The city is siding with the losing team and playing more for profit and economic value than our climate and health! It’s time to interfere with the gameplay of politicians and companies and learn to take action and play the game ourselves! Your team’s goal is to secure a place in Climate Games history by winning one of our highly esteemed awards, while our goal together is to free Amsterdam from polluting industries.

Supreme Court Mercury Decision Threatens Public Health

July 1, 2015 Mary Anne Hitt, www.sierraclub.org Educate! Coal, Environment, Law, Public Health, SCOTUS

By Mary Anne Hitt in Sierra Club - Today's ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court to send the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard (MATS) back to the EPA for further proceedings is a decision that endangers public health, but it won't revive the fortunes of Big Coal. These standards were designed to safeguard local communities against dangerous pollution from power plants. Unfortunately, today millions of Americans won't yet be able to breathe more easily. Practically speaking, today's decision won't revive the fortunes of Big Coal or slow down our nation's transition to clean energy. Most utilities have long since made decisions about how to meet the standard, since the compliance deadline was April 2015. Only a few dozen coal plants are still operating today with no pollution controls for mercury and air toxics and no clear plans to install them.

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