The answer, my friend, is in the wind
Coal is not as great as it originally appeared. While it’s still cheap, the nominal cost does not reflect many of coal burning’s negative externalities.
These plants puff out black clouds of smoke and other toxins on a daily basis, enough, in fact, to cause almost 12,000 asthma attacks and 500 premature deaths in Wisconsin alone. These plants also contribute large amounts of carbon dioxide, one of the leading gases in global warming; sulfur dioxide, a big component of acid rain; and nitrogen oxides, another set of gases which increase smog and acid rain, in addition to producing 40 percent of Wisconsin’s mercury emissions (which eventually wander in to many of our renowned lakes and rivers and contaminate fish and other aquatic life).
In the face of these serious and irreversible consequences, it seems blasphemous to risk our health and environment in the name of coal power. Yet we still need energy to fuel our current lifestyles. While this may appear to be an incurable dilemma, the answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.
The Badger Herald
These plants puff out black clouds of smoke and other toxins on a daily basis, enough, in fact, to cause almost 12,000 asthma attacks and 500 premature deaths in Wisconsin alone. These plants also contribute large amounts of carbon dioxide, one of the leading gases in global warming; sulfur dioxide, a big component of acid rain; and nitrogen oxides, another set of gases which increase smog and acid rain, in addition to producing 40 percent of Wisconsin’s mercury emissions (which eventually wander in to many of our renowned lakes and rivers and contaminate fish and other aquatic life).
In the face of these serious and irreversible consequences, it seems blasphemous to risk our health and environment in the name of coal power. Yet we still need energy to fuel our current lifestyles. While this may appear to be an incurable dilemma, the answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.
The Badger Herald
posted by das at 7:11 AM
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