Coal=problem
I think coal is one of the many overlooked problems the human race is facing. It is a resource that is renewable, but it takes millions and millions of years to develop, so it is under the category of nonrenewable. We are so dependant on this naturally created mineral we are running low on our supplies, and mining it is doing irreparable damage to the atmosphere that not many people seem to care about. A majority of the human race seems to think we are invincible, and that there's no way we can die off. They are very wrong. We are as far from invincible as you can get. With the amount of coal mining we have been doing since the mid 1700s we contributed quite a bit to global warming. Every time we mine, methane is released, which is considered more dangerous than the release of carbon emissions. Pretty much everything coal contains is a hazard to the environment. Are we aware of this? Yes. Do we do anything about it? No!! I think coal mining is what should be stopped today. The quicker it's stopped, the better a chance we have of not being wiped out by our own mistakes.
14 Replies
Coal is one of our fossil fuels; meaning we cannot get it back after it's gone. Everyone should reduce their use of coal as much as possible so we have it for a longer period of time. By doing so we could stop burning coal. What are some other ideas to keep coal on our one and only Earth?
I don't think coal mining will ever be cut out. Even though it harms the environment so badly, it creates many jobs for the people and to them, that is more important. I think that putting an end to mining coal would be wonderful but think of how many people will be unemployed. Eventually, we are going to run out of coal completely then there will be no mining to do at all. I think instead of just stopping all coal mining, we should take a few years off to get the environment back to a somewhat healthy state and let the coal renew itself. After mining it again for a few years we should then quit for a few years again. Even though this still isn't healthy for the Earth, it will help a little bit to prevent Greenhouse Gases, and then Global Warming.
The only problem with letting the coal renew itself would be that it would take a long, long time. We'd have to take a huge break, but that might be fine. It depends on how we would be with starting it up again.
Jocelyn, you are right that coal is a dirty thing. There are many cleaner ways of generating electricity, like solar and wind power. Cutting out coal completely would definately cause a job loss catastrophe, though. My dad works for a railroad company, and one of the resources they haul is coal. His company would probably suffer if coal were no longer used. However, it would be a good idea to reduce how much we use it.
You guys have brought up a very valid point. Although we probably can't cut coal completely out of everyone who uses it, we should try to use less of it.
I did coal for my thing on the wiki.. When you read about what it does to the environment you begin to think of it like some sort of poison. It's just amazing what coal mining does to the enviornment. It's not that coal is bad, it's what people do to it that's bad.
Amy's point about job loss is a really good one. A LOT of people are in this industry and depend on it for income.
I agree with Mason that we might not be able to stop using coal completely but we should definitely try to use less of it. Jocelyn said that the problem is overlooked, and I don't entirely agree with that but I do think that not enough is being done about this problem. We need to come up with an alternative energy source other than fossil fuels.
pahs-MileaS wrote:
The only problem with letting the coal renew itself would be that it would take a long, long time. We'd have to take a huge break, but that might be fine. It depends on how we would be with starting it up again.
Jocelyn, you are right that coal is a dirty thing. There are many cleaner ways of generating electricity, like solar and wind power. Cutting out coal completely would definately cause a job loss catastrophe, though. My dad works for a railroad company, and one of the resources they haul is coal. His company would probably suffer if coal were no longer used. However, it would be a good idea to reduce how much we use it.
Milea, I agree with you completely when you say that there would be a definite job loss problem if no one were to use coal. Not only that, but we rely on coal way too much in this world. Although it takes a long time for it to renew itself, we are constantly using it. It would probably help tremendously if we were to cut down on our uses, but the only way this will ever happen is if we were to use the alternatives more and become more advanced in those alternatives, so that everyone can use them.
In my opinion the only problem with stopping the mining of coal is the job loss...I forgot about all the people that work in the mines. Although it is very dangerous, and many miners have been killed in explosions, for some people tats all they cal do. I don't think the dependence on it will be a problem--once people see the damage their doing with by using something that's not completely necessary, I think they'll begin to help in the search for an alternative, safe, and reliable energy source.
Joce, I completely agree when you said that coal is one of the overlooked problems in this world. Also, I think that people only see coal as an energy source and something that affects us positively, but people don't realize how many problems coal is actually causing. In addition, good fact on coal being more dangerous than carbon emissions, I didn't know that.
I agree that coal mining is a problem. However, I disagree that it should be stopped immediately. Many people rely on the coal industry for jobs. We would just harm these people by leaving them without work. I think that if we could just use less coal, this problem could fix itself over time.
I agree. See, people might think we need coal to survive, but there are other things we could rely on. Do they not think the methane being released is dangerous? Of course it is, but they're overlooking that fact. I think the hazardous chemicals coming off coal are much more important to change than using the coal when there are other options.
On the topic of the jobs, I think that as we develop alternative energy sources more jobs regarding that purpose will replace the mining.
I definitely agree that our coal shortage is getting to be a bigger problem as the years pass. Mining should just stop all together if we are ever going to get this stopped.
If it doesn't, we will just have to find other sources in alternative to coal until there becomes more.
This post was edited on: 2007-12-12 at 07:26 PM by: pahs-StephanieS
Good post. Even thought coal mining badly harms the environment and I think it should be cut out also, I don't think that it will ever be cut out. Also we need to realize that coal is one of our fossil fuels and is a Nonrenewable resource. I thought you chose a great topic to talk about Jocelyn.
IvyS
Dec 9, 2007 at 3:07 PM