Green Washed by Kendra Pierre-Louis

Author:Kendra Pierre-Louis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: IG Publishing
Published: 2012-03-05T00:00:00+00:00

We have to demand better—for ourselves and for the environment.

PART II–FUELING THE FUTURE

7.THE CLEAN COAL MYTH

Here in the United States, we have between 250 and 300 years of a coal supply. That is more than the amount of recoverable oil contained in the entire world.

—Tim Holden

I think of doing a series as very hard work. But then I’ve talked to coal miners, and that’s really hard work.

—William Shatner

In 2008, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, a coal industry front group, launched a series of television commercials intent on transforming coal’s image from one that has never been associated with the word “clean,” to one that was at the very least a greener shade of brown. This was no mean feat for a substance famous for giving industrial-era London it’s gritty, grimy reputation. And who can forget the coal smudged face of Dick Van Dyke as the chimney sweep Burt in Mary Poppins? Affable chap as he was, not many would call him clean. And yet, “we can” intoned one commercial’s announcer over a soundtrack of rising music calculated to puff the chest of even the most reluctant patriot “be energy independent. We can continue to use our most abundant fuel cleanly and responsibly. We can. We will. Clean Coal, America’s Power.”1 Another commercial in the series sought to “educate” while also pandering to our jingoistic side. Over images of early airplanes spliced with that of stealth fighters, early room sized computers, juxtaposed against today’s far smaller consoles the announcer declared, “Throughout history new ideas have often met with skepticism. But technology born from American ingenuity can achieve amazing things... we’re committed to a future in which our most abundant fuel, coal, generates our electricity with even lower emissions.”

If that doesn’t just pull at your patriotic heart strings, you might as well move to Canada.

If it does pull at your patriotic heart strings, you can try moving to the eastern Pennsylvania town of Centralia. “Try” is the operative word because in 1992, when the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania reclaimed the borough and condemned all of its buildings, Centralia ceased to exist. The United States Postal Service revoked its zip code in 2002, and as of 2010, what was once a town of some 20,000 people is now home to a mere dozen.2 In what used to be Centralia, positioned amidst pipes spewing upwards the noxious gas from below, trees bleached white from the heat and gasses, and earth so hot that not only does it smoke like something out of a horror film but it also lights a match upon contact without striking, is a sign cautioning: “Warning-Danger: Underground Mine Fire. Walking or Driving in this area could result in serious injury or death. Dangerous gasses are present. Ground is prone to sudden collapse.”3 What caused Centralia to cease to exist? In a word—coal.

Centralia’s half century decline began in 1962 when local firemen set the community’s dump, which was located in an abandoned strip mine pit, on fire, as they had done countless times in the past to reduce the escaping odors.

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