Mr. President, Welcome to the Saudi Arabia of Coal
While President Obama addresses the US Congress in his historic State of the Union tonight, our nation will sit back and burn an estimated 115,000 tons of coal. Close to 250,000 tons of CO2 will be released from coal-fired plants during the hourlong presentation; hundreds of pounds of toxic mercury emissions will enter our air, and inevitably, into the lives of our children.
As we watch the President on our televisions and computer screens generated by coal-fired electricity, arsenic from coal ash, along with boron, selenium and lead, will quietly seep into our watersheds. Drawing from American Lung Association estimates, three American citizens will die prematurely during the State of the Union due to illnesses related to coal-fired plant pollution; three coal miners will also die today from black lung disease. Millions of tax dollars will be allocated in this single hour to cover the external health care and environmental costs of coal.
And the deadly myth of the Saudi Arabia of coal will burn on.
While I admire the President’s commitment to tackling climate change legislation, and while I will applaud the President’s indisputable support for clean energy investment in his address tonight–wind power surged 39% last year, thanks largely to stimulus spending–one lingering truth will burn like hot peacocky Btu’s tonight: The historic burden of coal on our nation will continue with its unremitting human rights and environmental violations until President Obama declares an an end to coal, as we know it.
Complete Article at Jeff Biggers: The Historic Cost of the State of the Union: Mr. President, Welcome to the Saudi Arabia of Coal.
