Coal mining has recently been in the news, having issues from the environmental standpoint. The main goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is used to generate electricity and is highly valued for its energy content. It has been used widely since the 1880’s and has long been the most affordable source of electricity generation in America, it provides almost 50 percent of this nation’s power. This industry has created a large workforce providing many jobs for local workers. Coal mining, particularly surface mining, requires large areas of land to be temporarily disturbed. This creates a number of environmental challenges, including soil erosion, dust, noise and water pollution, and impacts on local biodiversity.

President Obama has recently been trying to pass an act for the Obama Environmental Protection Agency’s “war on coal”. This act will directly threaten hundreds of thousands of jobs by requiring the EPA to adhere to strict standards with a proposed regulation under the Clean Air Act. The Utility MACT (“maximum achievable control technology”) rule seeks to cut U.S. power plants emissions of mercury from 29 tons a year to just five. Yet EPA itself estimates that cutting even as much as 41 tons out of total emissions of 105 tons “is unlikely to substantially affect total risk”. The modern coal mining industry has taken many steps to minimize all impacts on the environment. In the best practices, studies of the immediate environment are carried out several years before a coal mine opens in order to identify the existing conditions and potential problems.

There are several different environmental hazards that coal mining directly influences. The industry has taken positive steps towards many of these issues. To name a few, we start with mine subsidence, where with underground coal mining, the ground level lowers as a result of coal having been mined beneath. To ensure safety, the coal mining industry uses a range of engineering techniques to design the layout and dimensions of its underground mind working sot that surface subsidence can be predicted and controlled. Water pollution is challenged, but carefully controlled by separating the water runoff form undisturbed areas from water which contains sediments or salt from mine workings. Clean runoff can be discharged into surrounding water courses, and other water can be treated and reused for dust suppression and coal preparation plants. Acid Mine Drainage is a metal-rich water formed from the chemical reaction between water and rocks containing sulphur-bearing minerals. There are mine management methods that decrease the problem of AMD. Installing a water treatment plant is active treatment. Constant human intervention is another not as efficient method which is self-operating. Dust and noise are minimized by working on roads and providing buffer zones. A potent greenhouse gas methane is formed as a part of the process of coal formation, however, methane from coal seams can be utilized rather than released to the atmosphere with a significant environmental benefit.

Research shows that the coal mining industry has ensured steps to be safe for the environment. By the EPA actively imposing and attacking the procedures to ensure safety in the coal mining industry, many jobs, livelihoods, are being threatened. The “war on coal” may have some valid points, but there are many other industries which are just as threatening to the environment and not nearly as pro-active as has been the coal industry. The decision is a difficult one, but the issues at stake can make the average coal mining worker the biggest loser.