Monday, January 12, 2009

"Expectations"?

To me, the word “expectation” is so demanding. Yes, there are many things I would like to see out of this course, but expecting things and predicting things, I feel, will ruin any pleasant surprises. So I guess I would like to say that I “hope” to learn more about coal while travelling to some place that I have never been. Hopefully, by the end of this trip, I will have a better understanding of how coal, an energy resource so despised by environmentalists and conservations, can still serve an integral role of the economic life in this area. Additionally, I would like learn about carbon capture and sequestration and other “clean coal” technologies to be optimistic about the future of coal. Gloomy doomsday thinking only deters people from actually stepping up and solving the greater problems of our day, so I would like to see where the problems are in our energy policy and how people are actually trying to deal with them.

As for questions, I quickly realized that there is great incentive in blogging earlier in the week since many who have blogged before have already said what I wanted to say. So hopefully I can think of something interesting to ask instead of merely repeating what I’ve read below. I guess I’m interested in working conditions and safety issues in coal mines. Do people get black lung disease today? How likely is it that a worker is stuck in a mine that is caved in? Do they receive extra compensation for the perceived safety risks? A lot of people, even environmentalists, often disapprove of nuclear due to the risks of a nuclear meltdown. However, even at 3-Mile Island, no one ever died. When I think of the thousands of coal miners in China everyday that lose their lives or limbs, I wonder if it is worth it. But yes, I realize that China and West Virginia are very different. I have no idea how coal mining works, so it’d be interesting to know.

Also, as an environmental engineer, I worry about the (ground)water quality. I mean mine tailings have been notorious for destroying the water supply of nearby neighbourhoods. Many former mine sites in the country have eventually made it on the Superfund list to be dealt with for the next couple decades. Clean up efforts must be enormous.

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