This article is about coal and the dangers of mining and using this natural resource. The article states that coal is used in production of half of the electricity that Americans utilize. Coal is a cheap form of natural resource and was once a growing industry, but now due to the fear of climate change and the effects on the environment it is slowly declining. There are now so many regulations attached to mining coal that many coal plants have shut down and left thousands out of work. Coal mining is a very dangerous job and leads to many deaths throughout the years. In 1992 in Wise County, Virginia eight miners were killed due to numerous violations that went unnoticed and ignored. A buildup of methane gas resulted in an explosion that killed …show more content…
The truth is that these coal companies are not worried about the environment or the men that work in the mines. The fact that miners die due to negligence is a reason coal companies should be held responsible for the way they leave the environment and most importantly for the loss of life. I have seen firsthand the devastation of coal companies and how they come into a community and take all the coal they can and leave and never return. I lived in Eastern, Kentucky my whole childhood and the coal companies will strip the mountain tops and leave them barren. The difference a few years can make is astonishing and many mountains that were once landmarks are now gone forever. The coal companies that once flourished in every community is long gone and they have made their millions at the cost of lives, health and natural beauty. I think the Appalachian Mountains are still full of useful resources and it should be used to help our nation and the communities that are home to the natural resources. Americans can use the electricity that can be mined efficiently and provide jobs and income to a deprived neglected community. I do not believe that coal companies should strip mine to get coal from the mountains. When a coal company does this they basically blow the tops of mountains off take the coal and leave the mountains tops disfigured and
Removal of the mountaintops causes environmental impacts from blasting. The blasting has caused rocks to be deposited into valleys on the hillsides, burying almost 2,000 miles of streams which feed the Mississippi River. Slurry, the residue which is used to clean the coal can wash into groundwater and may contain arsenic, lead, manganese, iron, sodium, strontium, and sulfate. A recent research study is beginning to link these environmental impacts to the grave health concerns in the Appalachian communities. During most of the Mountaintop removal mining’s history coal industries have been able to obtain permits easily to operate, but once under the Obama administration Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) those permits now take more time to obtain. The permit process requires all applications to be reviewed before being given out to coal
I comprehend that the future of coal depends on change and innovation; I feel America needs to use clean energy in the future to protect our environment and public health. I think changes to the clean water act created ambiguity to coal companies, which allowed the dumping of mining waste into our nations waterways. Appalachia needs to rely less on coal mining and concentrate on diversifying the economy. Appalachia has an abundance of resources that can be urbanized to supply new jobs and clean energy methods, such as wind, solar, hydropower and biomass, which could support rural areas. With political and economic guidance, I believe Appalachia could transition from coal to clean energy.
"The Toll from Coal." Catf.us. Clean Air Task Force, Sept. 2010. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
The period in American history between 1900 and 1920 was a very turbulent one. Civil unrest was brewing as a result of many pressures placed upon the working class. Although wealth was accumulating at an astonishing rate in America, most people at the lower economic levels were not benefiting from any of it. Worst of all for them, the federal government seemed to be on the side of the corporations. Their helpless situation and limited options is why the coal strike of 1902 is so important.
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877, which began on July 16th 1877, was the first national labor strike in the United States. The strike spread along the network of American railroad lines. Unorganized railroad workers, reacting to pay cuts and a loss of control to their company bosses demanded a work stoppage that was meant to halt all railroad traffic. Railway officials attempted to keep the trains running with militia and replacement workers but failed at the outset because of increasing popular support of the striking railroad workers. The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 ended by August 1st with the strikers really no better off. The workers did not gain an immediate pay raise or improved working conditions. They had successfully overthrown the control of the railroad officials but they were unable to sustain the momentum they needed to make the strike effective. Even though the strike had been unsuccessful, the action itself was significant because it highlighted a growing division between capital and labor in American society. The Great Strike had important repercussions; a rise of national labor unions, an escalation in labor conflicts, a rethinking of the role of state and federal governments in labor conflicts and the establishment of labor rights as a continuing political issue.
5). The high mortality rates are related to the environmental exposures of the coal mining along with other factors such as smoking, poverty, education, age, race and sex. “Higher lung cancer incidence and mortality in the Kentucky Appalachia is thought to result from higher smoking rates and correlates of poor socioeconomic conditions which limits the population access to health care” (Hendryx, O'Donnell, & Horn, 2008, p. 2). The population residing in coal mining areas, are exposed to contaminated water and air from the coal mining and there is a concern for respiratory illnesses related to the pollutants. The fumes or toxin released from the coal mine, this places the individual at a risk for respiratory issues such as emphysema, black lung, brown lung and
Railroads have made better the lives of most citizens in the US. By the 1890s, the United States was becoming an urban nation , railroads were a great way of transport between towns. They were used for the shipping of food, building materials and fuel. The presence of them could bring a territory a lot of opportunities as well as it could change its economy in many ways. Railroads also helped to shape physically the growth of towns and also a lot business grew around focal points in the railroad industry. Later on, the United States transport system was composed by 320,000 kilometers of railroads that prolonged from the Pacific to the Atlantic and vice versa and also connecting with the frontier countries, Mexico and Canada.
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, transport, and technology had a profound effect in North America. The industrial revolution marked a major turning point in history because it changed every aspect of life in America and the country as a whole. People started replacing ploughs and other tools for machines that could do twice the work. While others moved to large cities and started working in factories and other businesses. Huge industries such as the textile, steel, and coal industry came out and had a profound effect on the industrial revolution but, they would not have been extremely successful if it was not for railroads. The railroads played a vital role in the development and success of other industries. The railroads triggered the biggest leap in transportation in history. Through technological and entrepreneurial innovations and the creation of steam-powered locomotives, the development of trains as public carriers of passengers and freight, brought forth the railroad. The railroad industry changed the nature of production because it became an important energy source that replaced human and animal power. Due to the important role of the railroads, workers became more productive, items were being shipped more quickly, and resources were becoming available to everyone including the working and middle class and not only the wealthy. The railroads became to be known as one of the biggest leaps of transportation in history. This is because it set up the next fifty years of America’s prosperity. The railroads became extremely popular and useful during the 1800’s to millions of people and other large companies. Although there were many indu...
Railroads can be referred to as the first big business, and the first industry to develop management bureaucracy (Ogburn 39). Railroads were a vital part of early American history during the 1800s-1860. The development of Railroads was one of the most important phenomena of the Industrial Revolution. Railroads brought social, economic, and political change to the country (Stover 26). In the United States a turnpike era and then a canal era had immediately preceded the coming of the railroads, which proved to be fast, direct, and reliable in all weather. After 1830 the railroads grew so quickly that within a decade their mileage surpassed that of the canals (Hollingsworth 28).
The natural resource that I am writing this paper on is coal. Coal is a cheap, dirty fossil fuel which we burn to create power. Coal is the most abundant in North America and in Russia, including the area around it. China also has a fairly good amount of coal in it too. Coal, like all of the other fossil fuels is nonrenewable and will eventually run out, in the not so near future. Coal is very important to many of the countries of the world. The countries that use the most coal are China, the United States, India, Russia, and Japan. These five countries “account for 76% of total global coal use.” (World Coal Association, 2014).
Perhaps the most infamous American example of a coal mine fire is Centralia, a town in the anthracite region of eastern Pennsylvania. Centralia was like any other coal town until one fateful day in 1962, when a heap of burning trash in a dump that doubled as a mine stripping pit quickly spread to other parts of the mine. After a few months of bureaucratic haggling, the local government finally agreed to drill to suffocate the fire, but it had spread faster than had been anticipated and could not easily be contained. In the next few years, subsequent efforts to quell the fire proved futile while it expanded beyond the confines of the coal mine to other areas underneath people’s residences in the town of Centralia.
What comes to mind when you think of coal mining? If you're like me, coal mining means living in darkness and a cold hearted industry. Other words that come to mind are poverty and oppression. Coal mining is not a job that you dream about or get a degree for. People who are coal miners do not chose a life full of danger and repression, they get stuck with it. There are many dangers that come along with coal mining, not only for the workers, but for the environment. Coal mining and the coal industry have caused irreversible damage to our environment and has killed innocent miners.
There were many revolutions that happened throughout the world. The one that really shaped modern day society was the Industrial Revolution in Britain during the 18th and 19th centuries. It changed the whole of Britain and would later change the world. Despite the early social problems of child labour and sanitation created by the Industrial Revolution, its long-term social reforms including; the Factory Act and the Public Health Act outweighed the short-term issues encountered.
Burning and mining coal for fuel is harmful to the environment but because how cheap and easy it is to find many people are unwilling to give it up as a fuel source. One of the problems with coal is that they are limited and are non-renewable so once it has been used we won’t be able to use it again.
Diamond mining in Africa has turned many parts of the country into a war zone, especially Sierra Leone and. Many people were left wounded and without homes, people were captured by the rebel groups and turned into slaves. Forced to mine diamonds against their will. The Civil War had been going on for ten years, for many children mining became a way of life and many of them were turned into child soldiers.