Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Coal belongs to yesteryears
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Chad Braby
Braby, of Roanoke, is vice president of the Greater Raleigh Court Civic League and regional manager for a general contractor.
The recent coal ash sludge disaster in Kingsport, Tenn., underscores the need for change in the way electricity is generated in the Southeast. In the Dec. 23 incident, more than 1 billion gallons of toxic, heavy-metal-laden liquid sludge were dumped directly into rivers that supply drinking water to millions of people. It is increasingly obvious that coal, the longtime staple of our energy diet, is a dinosaur.
Let us briefly enumerate coal's shortcomings. It is a non-renewable product; we'll eventually run out. The effects of its extraction from the ground are impossibly damaging and difficult to convey without seeing it in person, but mountain-top removal is an accurate description. The byproducts of its combustion are asthma-inducing gases, which lead to the orange-alert and red-alert summer days when children and elderly are advised to stay indoors. And, let's see ... I seem to be forgetting one. Oh, yeah, the carbon thing. Burning coal is one of the primary sources of greenhouse gases leading to global warming.
This is all before coal's final legacy, the leftover coal sludge, is dumped into giant holding pits where it sits ... forever. Or, until it escapes into the waterways that it inevitably sits beside.
Think this spill is an isolated incident? In 1972, a breach of a sludge impoundment at a mining operation in West Virginia killed 118 people. In 2000, a coal-sludge levee broke in Marin County, Ky., and spilled 300 million gallons in what is widely considered the worst environmental disaster in the Southeastern United States. Until Dec. 23, when the TVA's Harriman plant in Kingsport managed to make the 2000 spill look small.
Folks, we can do better. We must do better. Other energy sources are gaining traction. Progressive states have enacted temporary market-support mechanisms that make wind and solar viable short-term options, and a slam dunk when long-term financials are considered.
Regrettably, Virginia lags behind in solar production incentives that drive implementation in many states, including our southern neighbor, North Carolina, which is getting in on the act. Leaders in these states have seen the writing on the wall, having proclaimed the future must belong to the sun and the wind. And utilities in these vanguard states are working with local and state governments to provide the framework for the clean energy future.
Our local electric provider, Appalachian Power, appears to stand in the way of progress. Think I'm speaking out of turn? Fair enough; the inner workings of large-scale energy utilities might be above my pay grade. But here's a telling sign. Try a search for "net metering" on the Web sites of large utilities in progressive states like California (Pacific Gas & Electric) and North Carolina (Duke Energy). On any of the hundreds of links, you'll quickly learn that net metering is the ability to sell excess generated power from a solar installation back to a utility. Solar owners like to call it "spinning the power meter backward." You'll also learn how to make money off of your solar installation. Now do the same search on Apco's Web site. Voila. Nothing.
Fortunately, 2008 saw a gathering of momentum in the Roanoke Valley that served to counter the immobility of the electric utility and Virginia's state government. Organizations like the Roanoke Valley Cool Cities Coalition had a banner year attracting new affiliates and implementing progressive programs to promote energy conservation. They also furthered their goal of educating the public about the impact of fossil-fuel usage and the promise of renewable energy sources.
Likewise, Roanoke took great strides in 2008. Led by Councilwoman Gwen Mason and a slate of forward-thinking leaders, the city's Clean and Green initiative partnered with local business heavyweights. In November, the Clean and Green Business Coalition announced the notably aggressive goal of a 20 percent reduction in carbon emissions over the next five years.
Local residents are choosing to act in the green spirit as well. Neighborhood organizations like the Greater Raleigh Court Civic League, itself a RVCCC affiliate, went to work building greenways and making plans for future recycling campaigns and other citizen initiatives. The group invited Mason to its January meeting to make plans for more good work in the new year.
So, in 2009, there's reason for optimism. Hopefully, it's contagious, and state legislators will follow the lead of our neighbor states on renewable energy. And, hopefully, our electric utility will join in the growing recognition that coal, like the dinosaur, is on its way to extinction.
