Another point is that productivity in the East is currently about three tons of coal per miner`s hour. In the West, it is almost six times higher. This is another reason why the West has regained so much market share of Eastern coal, where employment is concentrated. “In addition to road transport, wood and coal combustion is a major source of particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution, the most worrying form of pollution of human health. It is important that we address all of these sources of air pollution and raise awareness of the dangers of air pollutants so that people can make the best choices for their own health and that of others around them. [3] The West consists mainly of coal deposits from New Mexico and Arizona, as far north as Montana and as far east as Texas. The East consists mainly of coal deposits in the Midwest and Appalachians, from Ohio and Pennsylvania to Alabama. As for coal in the United States, the steady expansion of production since World War II is striking. To improve air quality, pollution and public health, the government has announced plans to phase out the sale of coal and wet wood in England between 2021 and 2023. This means that suppliers must offer cleaner, greener fuels such as dry wood and manufactured solid fuels to people who light fires and wood stoves in their homes. It allows a utility to enter into “energy transition obligations” to cover the costs associated with phasing out coal-fired power plants.
This includes up to $30 million for coal mine rehabilitation and up to $40 million to support displaced workers and affected communities, shared between the Energy Transition Fund and Indian Affairs, the Economic Development Fund and the Displaced Workers Fund. Home combustion, especially with conventional household charcoal or wet wood, is a major source of the pollutant PM2.5 – tiny particles that can enter the bloodstream and settle in the lungs and other organs. PM2.5 has been identified by the World Health Organization as the most serious air pollutant to human health. “. The longer coal-fired power plants are part of the energy mix, the more the economic benefits of transitioning to low-cost renewables will be delayed. The abolition of regulation can have many consequences. The weakening of rail regulations in the 1970s and 1980s led to job losses in eastern coal. “When I opened the door, I felt this warmth that I had never felt before. And I was hooked right away,” Atkinson says. Talk to coal heat advocates in Pennsylvania, and you`ll hear this repeatedly — that there`s no heat as intense as coal heat.
Atkinson was among those leading the campaign. He bought Leisure Line in 2009 with a business partner and says he got into the charcoal stove business after experiencing a friend`s stove. Now, nearly 50 years after the 1970 law, the closure of old power plants has finally begun. As shown in Figure 3, the coal-fired power plants closed in 2015 were quite old (the oldest was commissioned in 1944, the year the Allies landed in Normandy). As the figure also shows, almost all decommissioned plants started operating more than 40 years ago. This suggests that the decline in coal-fired electricity generation is largely due to an aging fleet of power plants that could have been shut down years ago without the grandfathering clause of the Clean Air Act. “Phasing out the sale of charcoal and wet wood is an important first step in protecting the country`s health from toxic air. But we must not stop there. Air pollution is a major public health challenge and requires an urgent and courageous response. Yes, from May 2023.
However, people with open fires can still use it until that date, unless they live in a smoke control area and purchase it from their local licensed coal dealer. Those with a multi-fuel stove should now switch to cleaner alternative fuels – if they haven`t already done so – such as ready-to-burn solid fuels that produce less smoke. Smokeless fuels can also release more heat and last up to 40% longer than coal. But nothing is as constant as change. In the 1970s, concerns about pollution took center stage and coal was adapting – for many, it was still the cheapest alternative. In the 1980s, railway deregulation altered the regional competitive balance, as western coal (with high labor productivity) took over from eastern coal market share (with lower labor productivity). “The passage of this legislation and the ban on coal reinforces this commitment to clean energy, and it only demonstrates our legislature`s leadership in the fair fight against the adverse effects of climate change,” Malinoski said. Kelly Brown stands in front of a pile of coal. The family business, F.M. Brown`s Sons, has been selling coal for nearly a century. Hide Jeff Brady/NPR Captions As shown in Figure 4, a miner in the West in the late 1970s could produce about four times as much coal as in the East, and prices reflected this productivity advantage.
But railway prices were high, limiting the ability of western coal to compete with eastern coal despite the low prices of the mine. Figure 4 shows how labour productivity in coal mines, again divided into East and West, has changed over the past 60 years. Nationally, productivity grew steadily (with two small declines), with output per hour worked increasing fivefold in the United States. And most of those profits were in the West. Following in the footsteps of several other states with clean energy goals, Hawaii lawmakers this month passed legislation banning utilities from using coal to reduce carbon emissions, reduce electricity costs and promote environmental justice in the island nation. Figure 1 shows U.S. coal production since 1949, separating the west (the region west of the Mississippi) from the east (the region east of the Mississippi). The East is the traditional hotbed of American coal, while the West is primarily a post-1970 supplier. [3] An additional force has hurt coal employment – regional competition between East and West. The labour-oriented West has taken significant market share in the labour-intensive East. The result is that far fewer miners are needed. “We know that air pollution at the national level has decreased significantly since 2010 – with an 11% reduction in particulate matter emissions and a 32% reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions – but much more needs to be done to tackle pollution from all sources, including transport, agriculture, industry and home burning.
Prices have fluctuated since then, but gas continues to be plentiful and cheap. This has had two effects on coal. The first is that cheap gas is replacing coal in existing power systems. Second, cheap gas increases incentives to shut down old coal-fired power plants from the 1940s and 1950s. Figure 5 shows the expansion of natural gas in electricity generation in parallel with the decline of coal. The figure also shows the expansion of renewables such as wind and solar, also at the expense of coal. Although amendments to the Clean Air Act of 1977 helped Eastern coal compete with Western coal, the deregulation of rail coal transportation resulted in a significantly expanded market for western coal at the expense of eastern coal. As shown in Figure 1, there was a strong expansion of western coal beginning in the mid-1970s. It is important to remember that other things have also happened, such as rising oil prices. But the impact of lower rail fares can be seen dramatically in the market for what is now the largest coal mine – the North Antelope-New Rochelle mine.
The mine is located in Wyoming and produced about 10% of all U.S. coal in 2014 — it was shipped across the country to places as far away as Florida. But while Democratic Gov. David Ige is expected to sign Hawaiian Act S.B. 2629, its immediate impact on coal consumption and climate emissions is questionable, given that the state`s remaining coal-fired power plant will be removed before the ban goes into effect. The main use of coal in the United States is for electricity generation, and the most important environmental law affecting the burning of coal to generate electricity is the Clean Air Act of 1970, signed by Richard Nixon. The law imposed significant restrictions on sulphur emissions from new coal-fired power plants. What`s wrong with burning coal and wet wood and are there better alternatives? Some measures have been proposed to restore employment in the coal sector.
One is to reduce environmental regulations for coal and natural gas production. But think about it: it will likely accelerate coal`s decline as natural gas continues to enter the market. Ord loads a funnel into the back of his coal stove. He says 400 pounds of coal will keep his 2,400-square-foot home between 70 and 72 degrees for a few weeks in the winter. Jeff Brady/NPR Hide subtitles The state bans also ensure utilities live up to their commitments to phase out coal, said Jeff Deyette, director of state policy and analysis for the Union of Concerned Scientists` climate and energy program.
