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I'm an engineer from the industry. There will be no additional hydro and the coal fired energy they use now comes from a Montana Plant and other western plants It will be shut down and the replacement energy will come from wind, solar and natural gas.
Um, OP, you keep completely ignoring any post that doesn't support what YOU see as the "truth."
Hmmm ...
(And for the record, I have no horse in this race, but it would be nice if we could do without the hyperbole and the ignorance.)
I forgive your ignorance. You aren't a member of the community. For your education look up the Washington State Energy Independence Act.
Remember, while there are two sides to every story, one of them is wrong. Coal fired generation in this country is already down by over 50% this century.
I'm an engineer from the industry. There will be no additional hydro and the coal fired energy they use now comes from a Montana Plant and other western plants It will be shut down and the replacement energy will come from wind, solar and natural gas.
so what? I build operate and maintain natural gas power plants for a living and have 5 engineers that work for me, here and in Germany. Dependable plants that start and stop at the touch of a button 99% of the time. Facilities that don't get any subsidies to build and are capable of operating in multiple markets. being an engineer don't mean squat..... and being an engineer that dupes people into buying into renewable even less
I'm an engineer from the industry. There will be no additional hydro and the coal fired energy they use now comes from a Montana Plant and other western plants It will be shut down and the replacement energy will come from wind, solar and natural gas.
Of course, the naysayers will claim coal is stronger than ever and coming back, but you have first hand knowledge of the industry, and coal is like dinosaurs. It may not be dead yet, but one foot is in the grave and the other is on a banana peel.
Moderator cut: Off-topic political
Last edited by harry chickpea; 04-02-2019 at 07:35 AM..
Every where those cars go, coal dust comes out of them and settles to the ground. Those who are unfortunate to live near the rail lines, have that poison constantly in their environment. In most cases, that coal does nothing to provide us with energy, because it's heading for seaports to be shipped to overseas customers. The land and water where it's extracted is ravaged and everyone along the routes pays a price and only the coal producers profit from it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CentralUSHomeowner
We have a family farm on a very busy rail line in the Midwest where rail cars loaded with coal pass many times a day. The farm has been in the family for more than a CENTURY and you can't tell that coal has ever been transported on that rail line. The house is as white as ever and sits no more than 250 ft from the rails. The trees and grass are green, the fruit trees produce, the flowers I planted 5 years ago at the entrance bloom every year around Easter on schedule and not more than 75 ft. from the rail crossing.......calves come twice a year in the field next to the rail line.
You need to get out more because your description of what happens with a train carrying coal and its impact on the land/property around a rail line is NOT what our family has experienced for over a CENTURY. Five generations of families have lived, worked and recreated on that family farm..and continue to do so.
You and Dozerbear have described coal trains that emit no coal dust. It seems that research has shown that some trains have had procedures done on them that minimize this problem. But there are still other coal trains that emit a lot of dust. Read the abstract of the linked research report. Some coal trains coming down the Columbia Gorge in Washington and Oregon have been observed with heavy plumes of coal dust coming out. Much of the opposition and local or regional laws that have been passed against granting passage to coal trains, have been based on the dust they emit.
That may explain why our country's power supply is heading for trouble.
Why do you take such glee in the demise of coal? It's being replaced by gas, another fossil fuel.
To use solar or wind is to make power more expensive-- and it's the people at the bottom of the economic ladder that will suffer the most. An example of a plethora of similar articles https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/03/...ark-literally/
Wind & solar are only cheaper if you ignore the cost of back-up. Not only does the back-up power source make the process more expensive, but doesn't lead to any savings in "carbon frootprint," either.
So, what's the point of alternatives except as a political maneuver to subjugate the masses?
there will be no more coal miners subjected to terrible, dangerous working conditions as well as
disease etc.
Thank you for bringing this up. There were many coal miners on my mother's side of the family. Everyone of them was getting Black Lung benefits from the government by the time they got old.
Coal mining is terrible work. You spend your day in a tunnel breathing in coal dust, no matter how good the ventilation system in a particular mine is. Its unavoidable. Its dangerous work because of cave ins that can't always be prevented even when a responsible operator is running a mine. Other industrial accidents are fairly common as well. My maternal grandfather actually lost his right hand in a mining accident.
We go through all this to produce a form of energy that adds more to global warming than any other form that is currently available. We go through all this to protect the jobs of people in places like West Virginia who must know they are working in an industry that is eventually going to be doomed. We go through all this to pollute the atmosphere in a way that produces cases of asthma and even lung cancer.
Coal mining towns and communities tend to be some of the dirtiest and least scenic places in our country. Coal mining can also result in polluted waterways.
I realize that solar energy and energy conservation cannot solve all this nation's energy problems. I support responsible development of natural gas and oil reserves. I support investing in solar energy and the type of batteries that will be required to make such systems truly viable for most of the country. I am not even opposed to nuclear power--if it is properly regulated.
I do not support the current administration encouraging coal mining to keep small numbers of people employed in an industry that the market has selected for destruction.
Americans deserve better and can will eventually get better sources of energy than coal.
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