King Coal

I am reminded that some time ago a representative from Peabody Energy Company contacted me wanting my cooperation in leasing our land for gas and oil on my family's home place in Leslie County. They would pay us to rent the land, which would be a great source of income for my aunt and uncle. His presentation was slick and rehearsed, with many dropped hints about much revenue we (my father's heirs) could expect to collect from royalties. Imagine my surprise when a family member informed me that, indeed, Peabody is drilling for oil and gas in Leslie County -- however they are capping the wells and have no plans to extract any oil or gas at this time. They are choosing NOT to produce any fuel. They're just holding on to the land.

Our subjectivity to King Coal in this state is sad. The new buzz word regarding coal, is "clean electricity." But when it comes to coal, there is NO such thing as "clean" electricity. It does not matter how many cleaners you force the air through. When you have strip-mined coal, you have single-handedly supported the subjugation of an entire populace of people, their ecology, history, and the complete devastation of a rare and delicate ecosystem that can never be "reclaimed." From the devastated faces of the family members of coal miners buried alive to the land and waterways fouled from the drift and sludge pond overflows, coal is a filthy energy source for Kentuckians and everyone else, and we need to acknowledge that fact. Every time we turn on an electrical appliance, we need to remember where that electricity is coming from and the true cost it takes in human lives, health and our environment.

Coal is great for the economy. Aren't we told that as well? Well the people of the community should benefit, right? I mean all that money in the area? The elderly people in that community travel at least one county, if not two or three, down twisting, winding roads, in order to receive quality health care above the competent one in Hyden. It's the same in other coal-producing counties. There are some sections of the area that have an economy less than many third world countries. It doesn't employ a lot of people to strip-mine coal. Not enough to make any difference in the economy. 

Coal in Kentucky involves a brutal history of graft and politics, senseless death and dismemberment, disease and generational poverty, all shoved down the throat of a populace that has been exploited, maligned, ridiculed and discounted despite their incredible contributions to our lives and culture. I can speak personally from my experiences as a respiratory therapist. In many in-services involving pulmonary lung function testing for Black Lung, we are cautioned about those "hillbillies" trying to "deceive" Medicaire and Medicaid by "faking" their test results for black lung benefits. As far as I'm concerned every coal miner who has spent any significant amount of time in the minds should qualify for Black Lung. These people are soldiers. They do a horrible job for a lifetime for our ability to turn on the lights, and they live out their lives with compromised lungs and disease as a result. That the government should turn their backs on them after a life time of service, is not surprising, but it is appalling. There is no reason they should not be considered civil servants also, and subject to their benefits.

You would think that an occupation as dangerous as coal mining would be under the strictest safety guidelines imaginable. But recently it took a huge effort on the part of several environmental and human interest groups to keep some extremely basic mining safety requirements (e.g. for instance that the foremen and women have basic CPR skills) on the table for legislation. OSHA, who is the bane of every hospital's corporate compliance office, seems to have turned a blind eye to coal mining. The EPA hasn't seemed to notice that the Middle Fork of the Kentucky River is the most unnatural green I have ever seen in my entire life. We rely on these government fail-safes to guard the health and lives of our miners and environment, but where are they before the cave-ins, the landslides and the spills?

Fossil fuels have been passe since the 70's. The only reason alternatives have not been developed is because there are people who have a vested interest in the status quo who have prevented it. How telling is it that not one of our new presidential candidates has an energy policy that eliminates our use of fossil fuels for power! They go on and on about "clean" coal, not mentioning that it still involves raping old growth forest and fouling mountain watersheds and ways. Why should they worry? It's not in their back yard.

Many years ago a coal company showed up with a deed for my family's coal, signed with an "X," as they maintained my grandmother didn't know how to write. Odd, since she raised three teachers. These people are sleazy in their very nature. This is no golden opportunity for plentiful energy and income. This is a golden opportunity for a very few to profit at a horrific cost. I recently heard these words, "Wall Street has it's eye on Kentucky." Wall Street is looking to rip the bones and guts out of our cherished mountain land and old growth forest. Wall Street doesn't give a damn about Kentucky.