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Coal Comfort: Is Coal the Next Big Thing? (May 12, 2006, One)

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Program Summary

With the price of oil rocketing ever higher this year, the U.S. is getting ever more serious about developing alternative sources of energy. Ira has discussed ethanol, wind, hydrogen, and nuclear energy on previous shows; this week, coal takes center stage.

Could coal, the stuff of billowing black smoke, soot, and lung disease, break our dependency on other nation’s oil? Yes, says one guest. We are the OPEC of coal; we have vast deposits of it, and we should make the most of them. Technology has made mining it easier and safer and using it far cleaner than in the old days. It’s cheap, too. No, says the other guest. Coal is not cheap from an environmental and health perspective. It is not a renewable energy source; mining it ravages the land, kills and maims miners, and is one of the primary contributors to air pollution and atmospheric warming. We should not be sacrificing our environment and our health for the sake of saving a little money.

Guests

Jeff Goodell
Author, "Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy Future" (Houghton Mifflin, 2006)
Contributing Editor, Rolling Stone
Saratoga Springs, New York

Joe Lucas
Executive Director
Americans for Balanced Energy Choices (learnaboutcoal.org)
Alexandria, Virginia

Related Links and Resources

Energy Information Administration: Coal Data, Reports, Analysis, Surveys
World Coal Institute - The Voice of the International Coal Industry
U.S. Department of Energy: Fossil Energy: DOE's Clean Coal Technology Program
BBC News, March 9, 2005: A coal-dependent future?
Environmentaldefense.org: Coal-fired Power Plants Are Big Contributors to Sooty Particle Pollution in Eastern States

For Discussion:

• What is OPEC? Why does Ira’s guest call the U.S. the “OPEC of coal?”
• What are the hazards of being a coal miner?
• How has mining changed in the last 100 years? What has been done to make coal mining cleaner and safer?
• What would be the advantage of using coal as a major energy source instead of oil?
• How does coal mining destroy the land, according to Ira’s second guest? Are there regulations about restoring the land to its former condition? Do you think these regulations are effective?
• How does burning coal contribute to climate change? What is the dilemma regarding carbon dioxide?

Activities

Old King Coal. Coal Energy, from the Energy Information Administration, is a easy-to-understand overview of the coal industry. It explains how coal was formed, types of coal, mining, processing, and a brief summary of coal’s impact on the environment as well as what has been done to ameliorate it. Visit the Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry for a “tour” of a cartoon coal mine, during which you’ll descend 600 feet below ground and learn about mine technology.

Thunder down under. Lesson plans about coal abound. Here are a few good sites:

• U.S. Department of Energy Fossil Energy: Energy Lessons and Study Guides for Younger Students features several lesson plans specifically about coal, including a unit on Cleaning Up Coal and gasification of coal, which is discussed on today’s show. It’s not an interactive site, but there are many good photos and diagrams.
• Kentucky Coal Education offers a number of lesson plans with a variety of discussion questions, activities, graphics, and diagrams. It is well-organized and thorough, touching on topics such as technology, land reclamation, and environment. There is also a “fun” page for kids
• American Coal Foundation mixes in a lot of coal mining history along with the facts and figures, such as mining camps and towns created by the industry, a time line of mining, and policy changes over the years. Interviews with miners, coal burning comparisons, and short story writing are some of the featured activities. On the interactive What is Your State's Role in Coal? map, students can explore coal and the mining industry in their own states.

Shades of gray. Despite the mining industry’s insistence that there is such a thing as clean coal, mining it and burning it are still very problematic as well as hazardous. BBC News’ A coal-dependent future? takes a grim look at the effect that coal dependence has had on China, from a horrible safety record to unquenchable underground fires to uncontrolled air pollution. Adding Fuel to the Fire is a lesson plan from the New York Times Learning Network that examines these issues in depth. The Environmental Literacy Council presents a well-balanced look at the positives and negatives of coal usage, with additional pages on mining, coal fires, and methane dangers.

Do you mine? Two New York Times lesson plans discuss aspects of mining. Mine Over Matter focuses on the recent Sago mine disaster in Kentucky and divides students into groups to research different topics. The Price of Power is an older unit that looks at the debate over regulating power plants and costs and benefits of cleaning up coal-fired plants.

Got energy to burn? Zoom over to these other Science Friday Kids’ Connection pages:

Up and Atom: Nuclear Energy (February 24 2006, Hour One)
Feb 21, 2003 Hour Two, Part 2: Alternative Energy Sources
Feb 21, 2003, Hour Two: Hydrogen Economy
Electric Avenue: Prius Plug-in (April 22, 2005, Hour One)
Hip, Hip, Hydrogen!(January 14, 2005, Hour One)
January 23, 2004, Hour Two, Part One: Green Building
September 26, 2003, Hour One: It's Not Easy Being Green--Green Chemistry

Use the search box below to perform a Google search within any of the specifc sites or general domains mentioned in this Activities section.

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