The Citizens Coal Council (CCC) is the only national federation of grassroots groups and individuals dedicated solely to challenging and changing the practices of the coal industry to protect both people and the environment. The coal industry has historically used its economic and political muscle to oppress poor communities. Coal is actively mined in 26 states, and for the most part these areas represent some of the most oppressed areas of the country, where the mineral wealth has been depleted for outside profits while the local economy and environment suffer severe degradation.
The Issues
The United States produces over one billion tons of coal per year to generate more than 51% of this country’s electricity. The coal industry has historically disregarded the health and safety of people and the environment. The entire coal cycle – from extraction through the disposal of power plant waste – impacts the health and safety of people as well as the environment. Its legacy of polluted streams, devastated landscapes, and chronic poverty can be seen from Appalachia to the Southwest. In recent years, the environmental effects of pollution from coal-fired power plants have gained national attention. Coalfield residents feel these effects first and are in a unique position to draw attention to all the costs of coal that remain invisible while coal is promoted as a cheap domestic source of energy.
High petroleum prices and government policies promoting “clean” coal and energy independence combine to raise the price of coal, making coal much more profitable to mine. Consequently, coal-mining companies in many states have dramatically increased the number of new mining permit applications submitted to state regulatory authorities, many of which have been weakened in recent years by staffing cuts, relaxed regulatory standards, or both. With the increase in longwall mining and mountaintop removal, the potential for environmental damage is on a scale never imagined 30 years ago, when affected coalfield residents first began the struggle to regulate the industry.
Mountaintop removal (MTR) operations are obliterating mountain ranges and filling valleys in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. The Environmental Impact Statement released by the Federal government shows that these mines have already leveled 15-25% of southern West Virginia’s mountains, damaged over 1,200 miles of streams, and removed 380,000 acres of hardwood forests. Underground “longwall mines” permanently destroy the groundwater in entire regions of Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia and wreak havoc on the surface of the land.
In 2008 the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity- a front group for the coal industry- launched a $40M advertising and public relations campaign to rally public support for coal-fired power plants and to fuel opposition to legislation that Congress is crafting to slow climate change.
One of the goals of CCC is to bring national attention to the devastating impacts of each step of the coal cycle on people, water, air, land and communities. We refute the claim that “Coal is Clean”.
