Why?

Upward of a billion dollars is going to be spent on carbon capture and sequestration. Why is that? The carbon is in the first place sequestered. That is what coal is. Sequestered carbon. Isn't that a bit like trying to put the genie back inside the bottle?

Why does CONSOL Energy buy ads and name ballparks, rather than restore all of the damage they have caused with their longwall mining projects? Trick question. It's cheaper, of course. And, besides, their name on a ballpark looks infinitely better than beside a picture of a destroyed house. Or, a farm that has lost it's water due to their mining operations. Or, creeks and lakes that have gone missing after you've been nearby.

If we know that burning coal accounts for half of the poison mercury released into the atmosphere by human activity. And, we know that infant humans are at the top of the food chain, and will be getting that mercury in their food. Then why would we continue the practice? Why would we not call that murder?

Why would anyone pump poisonous waste water into abandoned mines for storage knowing that that poison can, and will leach into nearby streams, lakes and reservoirs? Why would those people not be imprisoned for destruction of public water? There has been discussion, especially since 09/11, of the concern for public water and it's safety. Yet mining companies are allowed to poison it with impunity.

Fresh water is a finite commodity on the planet. Yet, the mining operation of mountain top destruction is allowed to dump the tops of whole mountains into creeks. Thus rendering them polluted and useless. And, destroying the fresh water of the people and animals that depend upon them. Why, exactly, would anyone even consider such a thing?

These are of course rhetorical questions. We all know the answers. These things are done in the name of profit. They place no value on the lives of the humans who suffer from their actions. The jobs they claim are so important, would all cease immediately if there was no profit in the project. They care not a whit for those who do those jobs. And the children ? The most important and vulnerable among us? Surely, you jest?