In what will probably be my most controversial post ever in the opinion of my friends and neighbors - Yes, the Coal Industry is dying - but its not Obamas fault. Hell, Id go as far as to say that its no one persons fault. There is no War on Coal, that line is just a scare tactic to get you to vote for certain parties Ill leave nameless. Im not an Obama fan, but Id prefer to stick him for things he actually does - what can I say? So what is happening to the Coal Industry? Well, for starters the overall downward trend has been going on for at LEAST 30 years. You cant blame the EPA for it either, in fact the only real fluctuation in which we picked up coal jobs was BECAUSE of the EPA cracking down on the comparatively labor-light Mountain Top Removal mining technique. The short version is just simply market forces. Coal is simply being replaced by other forms of energy tech that are more energy efficient or cost effective. From Shale Gas to Solar, theres just more options out there then there used to be and most of the new guys have at least something that they do better then Coal does. So the question shouldnt be how we get coal back, theres no stopping the human hunger for more, cheaper energy sources. Trying to Fight the War on Coal is just trying to patch an inter-tube thats been cut in half and hoping itll float anyway. The question should be how we go forward from here? Personally, I think we should look into other Energy systems. Convert old mine shafts into Geothermal Taps, use natural wind funneling effects for Wind Turbines, take advantage of the high elevations and relatively clear skies for Solar Farms. The future isnt something you can fight, its something you adapt with. We need to stop pretending otherwise.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 20:11:13 +0000
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