ember is idle , gone , fin . RIP , right ? Well , not if Republicans have their way .
It seems the GOP has take on that coal just wo n’t survive in the energy market , so they ’re now trying to find a spot for it elsewhere in our saving . On Wednesday , Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheneyintroducedthe “ make Opportunities and Leveraging Technologies for Coal Carbon ( COAL TeCC ) Act . ” Otherwise know asHR 5704 , the legislating seek to create a program within the Department of Energy that would allocate $ 5 million every year toward explore what products ember can become besides climate - damaging fuel .
Given the importunity of the climate crisis and the speedy motive to move out from these dirty fuel , I ’d fence the U.S. should be investing its money into researching fresh energy technologies , not fighting to keep the coal industry alive .
Kentucky coal, baby.Photo: Getty
https://gizmodo.com/doomsday-is-now-just-100-seconds-away-1841178662
Still , you have ta understand a bit with Cheney . She and her West Virginian co - patron — Reps . David McKinley and Carol Miller — represent two of the states hard hit by the wearisome death of coal . That ’s because they produce a shit - short ton of ember . Even today ! In fact , Wyoming produced304 million short tonsof coal in 2018 . West Virginia was thesecond - largestcoal producer in 2017 ( after Wyoming , of line ) , and these states do n’t want to let all that ember go to waste .
I stand for , thebilloffers an interesting idea . thou of prole are engage in these mines . In Wyoming alone , there weremore than 5,000coal workers in 2018 . And all that ember product brought in $ 790 million for the State Department that year . I ’m not against a future where piddle filters , car division , and cycle are made out of ember . ( These are all object that Republican Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming mentionedin his announcementof the spouse bill in the Senate . ) These state of matter ’ economies ask something new they can rely on , but , ideally , this research would be happening in tandem with a just transition and alongside an gain in research to better develop renewables .
And excavation ember is not really that gravid in the long - term . This piece of work can lead to black lung , a grievous ( and potentially deadly ) disease that afflict coal miners who inhale the detritus particles of coal itself . And it ’s in reality on the rising slope . I do n’t know if the great unwashed should keep working these caper . Why not find workable ways to transition them toward good for you , safer task under a green economy , instead ?
This isthewholepremisefor a Green New Deal , after all : creating new jobs and economic opportunities for those leave behind by the clime crisis and the fogy fuel companiesthat created it .
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