Lying for Coal

Lying for coal would fit above most any post written about the coal industry, either pro or con. Clean coal? Pizarchik, law enforcement? Coal jobs? We've seen them so many times, that some are inclined to take them as truth. Of course, they're not. They are all lies perpetrated upon the public by those who would destroy homes, creeks, and the planet at large, for profit.

Longwall mining is, from beginning to end, a very large and very dangerous set of lies. The first is that it must be done in the name of the country's need. In reality, the coal is being shipped to China.

The next lie concerns the mitigation of the damage that will be done by the mining itself. Will? Will. They buy insurance for that specific purpose if there is no need? Duke Lake was destroyed by the longwall mining operation of Consol Energy. There has been no attempt by Consol to build a new dam and replace the lake. Farmers have lost their water, and so their livelihood. Does anyone believe for a moment that those farmers will ever be made whole? Homes, some historic, have been reduced to rubble by mining that goes directly below them. None of those homes has been restored to their previous condition.

This one is very simple. There is not now, nor will there be by the time coal ceases to be used, any such thing as clean coal. That is a lie.

The land will be restored, as soon as it is first destroyed. The reclamation of the property destroyed is as laughable as clean coal. Part of the process of mining is the release of arsenic and mercury. After grading it flat, the industry says it has been reclaimed. That is a lie. Land that has been taken from a pristine state and polluted with dangerous materials,is not usable for anything.

Lying for coal is the norm. What seems to be lost on the longwall, and the mountain top destruction folks as well, is that a goodly amount of their handiwork is available for all to see. A quick trip to Google or YouTube, will bring before the viewer, these and other lies in abundance.