Centre Daily Times Logo

Move as far as possible to sustainable energy | Centre Daily Times

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • Customer Service
    • Mobile & Apps
    • Archives
    • Contact Us
    • Plus
    • eEdition
    • Newsletters
    • Subscribe
    • About Us
    • Local
    • Penn State
    • Sandusky Scandal
    • Communities
    • Crime
    • Business
    • Education
    • Politics
    • Public Records
    • State
    • Nation/World
    • Weird News
    • Sports
    • College
    • Golf
    • High School
    • MLB
    • Motorsports
    • NFL
    • NHL
    • Outdoors
    • Penn State
    • State College Spikes
    • Politics
    • Elections
    • PSU Sports
    • PSU Football
    • PSU Basketball
    • PSU Baseball
    • PSU Hockey
    • PSU Soccer
    • PSU Volleyball
    • PSU Wrestling
    • Nittany Lines Blog
  • Penn State Football
    • Living
    • Announcements
    • Family Pages
    • Eat, Play, Live
    • Home & Garden
    • Entertainment
    • Weekender
    • Comics
    • Games & Puzzles
    • Celebrities
    • Horoscopes
    • Movie News & Reviews
    • Music
    • TV
    • Opinion
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Submit a Letter
  • Obituaries

  • Classifieds
  • Jobs
  • Cars
  • Homes
  • Place An Ad
  • Mobile & Apps

Opinion

Move as far as possible to sustainable energy

    ORDER REPRINT →

January 06, 2014 12:30 AM

Dave Schellberg (“Drilling, mining boom does not spell environmental doom,” Wednesday) is right that we are not ready to move completely away from fossil fuels. He’s wrong to suggest that we should not move as far as we can right now. The more energy we generate from sustainable sources, the more we support that economy and push innovation in a positive direction.

Worse that suggesting that inaction should be the choice we make in the face of imperfection, Schellberg moves from supporting fossil fuels to touting coal. Coal may provide “cheap” fuel, but coal is a menace from beginning to end. Mine tailings are toxic to waterways, plants and fish, none of which does the humans nearby any good, either. A study by the West Virginia University Institute for Health Policy Research shows that living in a coal mining community is dangerous to the health of nonminers, too: Mining town residents have a 70 percent increased risk for developing kidney disease, a 64 percent increased risk for developing lung diseases (COPD) such as emphysema, and are 30 percent more likely to report high blood pressure. As for jobs, mining companies have been favoring machines over human employees for decades. The difference in people needed is immediately evident to anyone who looks at mountaintop removal (also called MTR) equipment, but it’s also true in underground longwall mining. The jobs are only there until there is a cheaper way.

Burning coal is better than it used to be thanks to smokestack scrubbers, but it still releases mercury and a slew of lesser-known toxins into the air when it’s burned. Guess who lives downwind? Not company executives or trust fund babies. Babies with much higher rates of lung problems live there. Asthma and cardiovascular disease for children and adults occur at higher rates in these communities. Cancer rates are higher, too.

Once the coal is burned to create the “cheap” electricity, we’re still not done. Coal ash is the second largest waste stream in the United States. Arsenic is one component. It’s stored in a variety of ways, including unlined waste pits, containment areas with impoundment dams that do not always hold. The cocktail of substances in coal ash is so toxic that exposure to it increases cancer risk nine times more than smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, and 900 times more than the “acceptable risk” guidelines. The better the air pollution gets, the worse the ash gets, because all the heavy metals and toxics that are “scrubbed” out of the smoke end up in the solid waste. We cannot make both better.

SIGN UP

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to the Centre Daily Times

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

Clearly, we’ve got to get off coal, but our power challenge is not just a coal problem. We must move aggressively away from all fossil fuels. Climate change threatens both people and planet in so many ways. This is about public health, about hunger, about disease, about conflict and security, about disaster relief, and, yes, it is about caring for Creation, for the “clean air and pure water” that the Pennsylvania Constitution says are a right of future Pennsylvanians, and for the very mountains that shout for joy and the rivers that clap their hands in praise.

We can’t do everything today, but we must move as fast and as far as we can, as soon as we can.  We must do so as an act of hope. Insulate, unplug, walk, and switch to clean power.  Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light can help faith communities, schools, and small businesses do so within budget.

The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it. (Psalm 24:1)

  Comments  

Videos

Woman tells her story of DUI arrest to prevent others from drinking and driving

Thon 2019 gets underway

View More Video

Trending Stories

State College shooter’s ‘Hometown Hero’ banner removed

February 14, 2019 03:03 PM

Penn State assistant coach Phil Galiano leaving to pursue NFL opportunity

February 15, 2019 09:20 AM

Jury returns verdict in child rape trial for Mifflin County man

February 15, 2019 01:36 PM

5 things Penn State wrestling fans should watch this weekend with the postseason looming

February 14, 2019 08:39 PM

Separate PIAA playoffs for public, private schools? State Rep. Scott Conklin unveils new bill

February 14, 2019 10:07 PM

things to do

Read Next

Letters to the Editor

Letters: What’s the history of State High alma mater?; Sexist ad had no place at Penn State

By CDT readers

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 14, 2019 08:20 PM

Centre Daily Times readers express opinion about EPA, Penn State and more.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to the Centre Daily Times

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE OPINION

Letters to the Editor

Letters: Blame for offensive ad falls to Penn State; UConn has much to prove to fan base

February 13, 2019 08:54 PM

Letters to the Editor

Letters: Rule changes needed in Pa. legislature; carelessness shown over ad at Penn State

February 13, 2019 10:57 AM

Letters to the Editor

Letters: Paterno’s Saudi Arabia connection; state of emergency was warranted

February 09, 2019 07:22 PM

Letters to the Editor

Letters: Thankful after tragedy; Sunday hunting is a property rights issue

February 09, 2019 07:21 PM

Letters to the Editor

Letters: Get used to polar vortex effects; New York abortion law protects women’s health

February 08, 2019 09:02 AM

Letters to the Editor

Letters: Penn State saw something, said nothing; Thompson took the right action on horse legislation

February 07, 2019 08:49 AM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

Centre Daily Times App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Photo Store
  • Archives
Advertising
  • Information
  • Place a Classified
  • Local Deals
  • Place an Obituary
  • Today's Circulars
Copyright
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story