I Have an Idea!

This is one of those times that I write about something that combines sadness with anger at stupid greed. I am extremely saddened at the recent loss of the coal miners and their rescuers, and my heart and prayers go out to their families and friends.

My anger is aimed in two directions, one is the greed of the mine owners who are using basiclly the same techonology that the earliest miners used; "Dig a cave and dig out the minerals."

It does not take a rocket scientist mentality to use a computer and come up with a far safer and better method of mining than is now practiced.

The following is a synopsis from my reasearch done on my home computer. I will follow this with some personal observations having to do with Texas mining.

"There are two primary methods of mining coal, surface mining and underground mining. There are over 1,000 surface mines and more than 1,000 underground mines in the US. Underground mining is more difficult and requires more miners, but much of our best coal is underground. Mining has become much safer and more efficient over the years. In 1980 there were over 220,000 coal miners in the country. Today there are fewer than 100,000. But while 1980 production was about 800,000 tons, today we produce over 1 billion tons with fewer than half the number of miners.

In recent years surface mining in Wyoming has mushroomed, making that state the leading coal producer at almost 300,000 tons per year. West Virginia and Kentucky, the traditional leaders, with both underground and surface mines, each produce around 170,000 tons."

The personal observations come from visiting the surface mining of coal that is used to fire the Alcoa aluminum plant in central Texas.

The term, "strip mining", and to many environmentalists envision the earth laid barren. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The earth covering the coal vein is scraped away and laid to one side and the exposed coal is removed and the next srtip is layed back ane the coal removed, etc. The earth that was removed is refilled and planted with grass and trees and is frequently made into wetlands or lakes. I encourage you to visit this operation and see ecology and man working together. The Alcoa folks offer visitors, but request that you ask for a schedule.

The coal used in San Antonio to fire their electrical generators comes from Wyoming and is surface mined. The high quality coal located in the Blue Grass country can be surface mined and the cases of "black lung" will simply cease.

I invite you to visit the Wyoming Coal Mining web site to see exactly what I am writing about.

There is no honest reason for men to have to place their lives on the line just because the mine owners are too interested in the bottom line to take advantage of todays technology.

I rest my case.