Tennessee coal sludge disaster ‘shows that the term clean coal is an oxymoron.

[G_j]

Tennessee coal sludge disaster ‘shows that the term clean coal is an oxymoron.’»

Monday, more than 500 million gallons of toxic coal sludge burst through a retention wall in eastern Tennessee, causing massive property and environmental damage and leaving residents holding their breath over possible long-term consequences. Environmentalists said the spill was more than 30 times larger than the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The incident underscored the false nature of the “clean coal” propaganda. In an interview with NBC Nightly News, Elliott Negin of the Union of Concerned Scientists explained:

This disaster shows that the term ‘clean coal’ is an oxymoron. It’s akin to saying ‘safe cigarette.’ Clean coal doesn’t exist.

Watch it,
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/24/tn-sludge-disaster/

[ensho]

1. is any clean up being started? this is a huge disaster

and really bad for the local people.

[appal_jack]

2. K&R: No such thing as clean coal

Coal mining destroys some of the most beautiful and biodiverse mountains in the world.

Coal-burning releases billions of tons of carbon and millions of pounds of mercury and other metals every year.

And Coal-ash is difficult to store and manage, hence this disaster.

No such thing as clean coal.

-app

[Junkdrawer]

3. Yet another campaign promise I hope Obama breaks...

although I'm not holding my breath...

[annabanana]

4. Excellent counterpoint to pro-coal advertisements.. It doesn't

help the environment so much if it only burns clean. You have to be able to get it out of the ground without destroying the Earth around it...

[AdHocSolver]

8. There are only three solutions to environmental issues: conservation, conservation, and conservation

Corporations make profit by increasing "demand" for their products. They profit from excessive consumption of resources.

Excessive consumption of resources is ruining the environment. This practice is also raising the cost of using those resources (eg., peak oil). At some point in the future, large segments of the population will be priced out of the market place.

Widespread poisoning of the air, seas, and land will produce disasters, drought, and famine. The wealthy will mostly be insulated from these catastrophes. However, millions of others will not survive. Numerous plant and animal species will not survive.

Civilization will not survive either. The wealthy who do survive will be the descendents of the same stupid elite who allowed this devastation to occur (promoters of "clean" coal, big gas-guzzling SUV's, the "There is no global climate change." crowd). They will be too intellectually handicapped to sustain more than a stone age civilization.

Control of government must be retaken by the few intelligent life forms on this planet, and environmentally sound practices mandated for all. Mass transit, hybrid-electric vehicles, development of practical wind, wave, and solar power technologies must take precedence. Oil and coal must cease being the dominant form of energy sources. The technologies to save the environment are well developed. They need to be refined and implemented on a universal scale.

We must not merely push Obama to be environmentally conscientious. Congress and state and local leaders must feel public pressure to act in an appropriate way to protect the environment and save resources. Senate Democrats, in particular, must not be allowed to scuttle programs, as they have in the past. State officials must not be allowed to divert funds for mass transit to building new roads to "nowhere".

[BeFree]

5. All this and more...

...and we still tolerate the mess. We all, in our own little ways, are contributors.

There is no clean energy, so the more each of us uses, the more we contribute to the problem.

[Junkdrawer]

6. Let me guess: The EPA will soon say the mercury laden water is safe to drink....

there will be a spike in neurological damage to newborns and young children...

and anyone who suggests a link will be derided as "non-scientific"....

[G_j]

7. hadn't heard much about this disaster

not much media attention..