Environmental groups have decried this classification, however, and last week drafted a letter asking the incoming Obama administration to tighten coal ash regulations. In a 2006 report, EPA officials stated that they investigated 86 complaints of damage to human health or the environment caused by "fossil-fuel-combustion waste management units" between 1994 and 2004. Though the outcomes of the investigations were not immediately clear, the report appears to tacitly acknowledge that coal ash is dangerous, a position that would contradict the agency's own lax policy toward the waste product. Knee deep in muck around the Kingston Plant, EPA officials are busy this week sampling the spill in an attempt to confirm whether or not there is any threat of contamination. As of the publication of this article, results were not yet available from the latest rounds of testing. However, Elliott Negin of the Union of Concerned Scientists said the accident is a reminder that even if technology is developed to capture the CO2 coal-fired plants emit, "'clean coal' is an oxymoron, like 'safe cigarettes'; There is no such thing." "Regardless of whether the spill is going to cause immediate problems for residents in the area, coal is a disaster every day," Negin said. "Mining for coal is knocking the tops off of mountains, and dumping tailings into streams and rivers. And mercury emissions from coal-fired plants are a threat to public health." Still, there are some hard realities that even the staunchest opponents of coal can't ignore: In 2007, Americans got about 59 percent of their electricity from coal-fired power plants. There are 616 facilities that burn coal to generate electricity, and plans for at least 100 more. Domestic coal is plentiful, and cheap. It all adds up to coal remaining a large slice of the energy pie, at least for the immediate future. But whether coal will be marginalized in favor of cleaner sources of energy further down the road, and whether it should, is still a matter of intense debate. Related Links: 2006 EPA Report on Coal WasteWind Power Beats Nuclear and Clean Coal, Other Renewables as Best Energy Option |
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