SEJ2008

Clean Coal's Dirtiest Secret

By Wendy Redal

It's been a couple of months since we visited Kayford Mountain together, but I've since completed a four-part series for a blog I write for on the impacts of mountaintop removal coal mining and actions citizens can take to oppose it.  The series is titled "'Clean' Coal's Dirtiest Secret." And a tip of the hat to whoever titled the field trip; I borrowed from it for my title in part two.  If you're interested, here are the links:

Part I - An Ugly Overview
http://www.scholarsandrogues.com/2008/10/27/clean-coals-dirtiest-secret/

Part II - Almost Level: The Mechanics of Moving Mountains
http://www.scholarsandrogues.com/2008/10/29/clean-coals-dirtiest-secret-part-ii/

Part III - Poor affected most as Environmental Destruction Agency blasts away barrier to expand mountaintop removal mining:
http://www.scholarsandrogues.com/2008/12/04/poor-affected-most-as-environmental-destruction-agency-blasts-away-barrier-to-expand-mountaintop-removal-mining/

Part IV - Seven Simple Steps to Save Appalachia
http://www.scholarsandrogues.com/2008/12/16/seven-simple-steps-to-save-appalachia/

Concurrent Sessions 3: COAL: Coal Around the Globe

Here's the audio file (MP3/9.22MB/0:40:16) for this Saturday, October 18, 2008, session: Download C3_Coal

Coal's ingredients comprise a devastating global threat: Carbon dioxide is the leading component in global warming, while sulfur dioxide (which leads to acid rain), nitrogen oxide (which produces ozone), and mercury all cause health and environmental damage. Yet China alone consumes more than a billion tons of coal a year, more than virtually all the world's developed nations combined. Throughout the developing world, consumption of coal is accelerating, with ominous implications for the world's environment. This panel will focus on coal use, impacts, and possible solutions outside the U.S., with particular attention paid to China and India, the world's first and third biggest consumers of coal respectively.
Moderator: Jacques Leslie, Freelance Writer
Panelists:
Peter Fairley, Freelance Writer
Roe-Hoan Yoon, Professor of Mining and Minerals Engineering, Virginia Tech, and Director, Center for Advanced Separation Technologies

Audios: Wednesday's Covering Climate Change and Our Energy Future in Rural America

Here are two audios from the morning session:

1. Download WedClimateChangePt1Morning  (MP3/12.1MB/1:25:20) includes:

Program Overview and Introductions
Emcee: Bud Ward, Editor, The Yale Forum on Climate Change & The Media

The Climate Challenge: Setting the Context for Considering our Energy Future Options
Speaker: Jacob Sewall, Assistant Professor of Geosciences, College of Science, Virginia Tech

What on Earth? Observed Changes in Land Features in North America and Eastern U.S. as Shown by Satellite Images
Speaker: Kirsten de Beurs, Assistant Professor of Geography, College of Natural Resources, Virginia Tech

2. Download WedClimateChangePt2Morning (MP3/13.5MB/1:18:46); begins at the 10:30 a.m. session: Mountaintop Removal in Context
Moderator: Ken Ward Jr., Reporter, The Charleston Gazette
Speakers: Gene Kitts, Senior Vice President, Mining Services, International Coal Group; Joe Lovett, Executive Director, Appalachian Center for the Economy & the Environment; Ben Stout, Associate Professor of Biology, Wheeling Jesuit University

There are four audios for the afternoon session:

1. Winning the Oil Endgame: Principles of and Progress Toward an Oil-Free America
Speaker: Amory Lovins, Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Scientist, Rocky Mountain Institute. Presentation materials. Audio: Download Wed_AmoryLovins-Pt1  (MP3/10.2MB/0:44:56)

2. Exploring Carbon Sequestration: Potential Options
Speaker: Jim Dooley, Senior Scientist, Joint Global Change Research Institute. Audio:  Download Wed_JimDooley (MP3/8.87MB/0:38:45)

3. Future Energy
Speaker: David Roper, Professor Emeritus of Physics, College of Science, Virginia Tech. Audio: Download Wed_DavidRoper (MP3/5.83MB/0:25:28)

4. Winning the Coal Endgame: The NegaWatt and Micropower Revolutions
Speaker: Amory Lovins, Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Scientist, Rocky Mountain Institute. Presentation materials. Audio: Download Wed_AmoryLovins-Pt2 (MP3/14.2MB/1:02:21)

Audio: Concurrent Sessions 1: COAL: Almost Level: Mountaintop Removal Overview

Here's the audio file (MP3/16MB/1:10:04) for this Friday, October 17, 2008, session: Download C1_Coal_32

Over the past 20 years, coal operators have blasted the tops off countless Appalachian mountains, and buried more than 700 miles of streams with the leftover rock and dirt. Environmental groups and many scientists say the practice is destroying sensitive mountain streams and diverse forests. Coal industry officials and most regional politicians say mountaintop removal provides much needed jobs, flattens the land for future development and really isn't that bad on the environment. Hear from all sides in this lively overview of the most controversial environmental issue in the region.
Moderator: Greg Collard, News Director, WFAE, Charlotte, NC
Panelists:
Steven Gardner, President, Engineering Consulting Services
Wade Gilley, former Chairman, West Virginia Governor's Task Force on Mountaintop Removal
Jack Spadaro, Mining Engineer, Government Whistleblower and Activist

Introducing Guest Blogger Michael Fortune

Good sunny morning !

      Michael Fortune checks in to report on the trip to West Virginia to see removal of coal by blasting / cutting off the tops of mountains.   I figured this trip would be the most environmentally dramatic and relevant to our energy policy discussions and reporting. 

    First, about me:    I have met some of you, including Lisa, at the May seminar on "Climate Change: Its Sweeping Impact," sponsored by the Knight Foundation last May in Maryland.   I am an atmospheric scientist making a career shift into environmental journalism;  I write and produce an occasional newsletter  about climate  science for the public, at climate-science.org ....       And I freelance on natural science, weather and climate, and (hopefully) ethics, as well.