Coal 

Coal is a fossil fuel, what means that Earth needed millions of years to produce it.
Huge amounts of plants were pressed over millions of years - the longer the pressure the harder the coal.
A lot of the coal deposits on Earth are of Carboniferous age at about 280 to 345 million years.
There are various forms of coal.
Lignite is a young form of coal. But harder forms of coal like steam coal and anthracite needed to be buried and pressed much longer to form.

The problem for all live on Earth is that humans are burning these fossil fuels in a very short time.
The plants removed CO2 = carbon dioxide for ten-thousands of years, now humans release the CO2 in a very short time.

Did you hear about "clean coal"?
Read our information - get the facts!
If a coal fired power plant sequestered all its carbon pollution, and if a coal fired power plant would abate carbon pollution from other sources,
coal can never be called "clean"!

1) Getting coal out of the ground is very destructive to human health, ecosystems and human communities.

2) Washing coal to prepare it for transport leaves behind lake-sized pools of toxic slurry, which regularly fail and flood nearby communities.

3) Transporting coal is carbon-intensive and destructive. Gigantic trucks drive downhill on narrow roads carrying enormous coal loads trailing toxic dust.

Coal trains, running 24 hours a day, lock up a big part of our country's rail infrastructure, which could otherwise be used for low-carbon freight shipping.

4) Burning coal produces huge quantities of heavy metal-laden coal ash, causing additional air pollution, endangering local communities with flying ash.

Fact is, that efforts in recent decades to scrub air pollutants out of coal fired power-plant smokestacks in response to
Clean Air Act requirements
have led to more coal ash, as pollutants are effectively transferred
from the air to the ash,
where they are far less strictly regulated.

Coal burning releases in the air:
A) CO2
B) Sulfur dioxide
C) Nitrogen oxide
D) volatile organic compounds
E) Mercury
F) Arsenic
G) Lead
H) Cadmium
A report from the National Research Council shows, that coal's air pollution-related health impacts alone represent about $62 billion a year in hidden costs.
Think about the costs of coal-related water pollution,
the cost of cleaning up after coal slurry floods,
the cost of ceding rail infrastructure,
the loss of some of America's oldest, most biodiverse forests.

Should a company not pay for the damages it causes instead of letting the public pay?
The total sum of damages is enormous.

Massey’s mine in Montcoal has been cited for over 3,000 violations, over $2.2 million in fines
Massey Energy is actively contesting millions of dollars of fines for safety violations at its West Virginia coal mine where disaster struck again, 25 miners were killed and another four are missing after a explosion took place.

Think about, how much truth is in the advertisement of a "100 percent clean" coal fired power plant.

More than 200 local, state and national organizations, have sent a letter to the White House asking for movement on proposed federal regulations for coal ash disposal.
WHY?
Continued delay in the issuance of federal regulations for the disposal of the 136 million tons of toxic coal combustion waste generated annually is dangerous and unacceptable. Unmitigated harm continues to threaten the lives and environment of millions of Americans.

What can you do?
Send us an email and confirm your support.
Reduce the amount of electricity produced by coal-fired-power plants.
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