College Students Lobby State for Green Jobs, against Coal Removal
(APN) ATLANTA — About two-dozen metro Atlanta college students gathered Thursday, February 19, 2009, at the Georgia State Capitol to ask lawmakers to support legislation that would curb mountaintop coal mining and encourage green technology.
The group of student leaders, known as Metro Atlanta Students for Sustainability (MASS), believes this legislation will provide the incentive for private investment into clean energy and create green jobs for Georgia.
HB 276, sponsored by State Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur), would prohibit the purchase or use of coal extracted by mountaintop removal coal mining for the generation of electricity.
Martin Ganttz, a senior at Georgia Tech, described what happens to the environment surrounding a mountaintop removal site.
“There were streams that were black and it made me literally sick from the fumes,” Ganttz said. “Mountaintop removal is mass murder.”
Not only can mining coal be destructive to the environment, but burning it can also cause further damage.
More than 500 coal plants nationwide generate solid waste known as coal ash, producing approximately 130 million tons each year. Forty three percent is recycled into other materials such as concrete.
But the other 70 million tons end up in 194 landfills and 161 ponds in 47 states, according to the latest data available from the US Department of Energy. The US Environmental Protection Agency puts the number higher, at 600, with an unknown amount dumped in mines.
“It poisons the water and dries up the streams,” Ganttz said. “It’s a terrible practice for the land and terrible for the people.”
The EPA has widely documented the hazards of improper storage and disposal of coal ash on public health. A July 2007 EPA investigation tagged 63 coal ash landfills and ponds in 23 states where coal ash is blamed for contaminating groundwater and the local ecology with boron, arsenic, lead, mercury, and more.
The Center for Public Integrity has an interactive map on its website that allows users to search by ZIP code the location of 446 landfills and disposal ponds in their area. The highest concentration is east of the Mississippi River.
“It’s affecting our generation and we’re the ones going to have to clean up the mess,” Jairaj Singh, an Emory alumnus, said.
Last Tuesday, the EPA took the first step toward regulating carbon dioxide emissions from new coal-fired plants.
The EPA granted a petition from the Sierra Club and other groups calling for reconsideration of a midnight memo issued by former President Bush’s EPA Administrator, Stephen Johnson, which sought to prohibit controls on global warming pollution from coal plants.
The EPA announced in a letter to the Sierra Club that it will publish a proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register and seek public comments on the decision in the near future.
The Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Environmental Defense Fund filed suit against the Bush administration to overturn the Johnson Memo but that litigation will now be put on hold as a result of last Tuesday’s announcement.
“With coal-fired power plants emitting more than 30 percent of our global warming pollution, regulating their carbon dioxide is essential to making real progress in the fight against global warming,” David Bookbinder, Chief Climate Counsel for the Sierra Club, said last Tuesday in a statement.
Another bill, SB 147, sponsored by State Sen. David Adelman (D-Decatur), would increase the proportion of renewable energy as a form of electricity production in Georgia.
“Green jobs, like installing solar panels, modernizing our infrastructure, and weatherizing our homes produce greater local economic benefits than jobs in coal or other fossil fuels and they accomplish the exact same end goal of increasing our electricity supply,” Ryan Jones, senior at Emory University, said.
Andrew Tate, a junior at Emory, said state lawmakers would be wise to meet with Georgia’s youth.
“To ignore the youth is to ignore history,” Tate said. “Even if [lawmakers] don’t agree, they should still come and say ‘yes, thank you for caring. We can’t support you now but here is what we can [support].'”
MASS also supports HR 10, which would create the Joint Committee for Clean Energy Technology. The ten-member committee would study the development of clean energy technology and develop a climate action plan.
After their press conference Thursday, MASS met with lawmakers to discuss legislation and other ways to invest in clean energy and create green jobs.
On March 2, 2009, MASS will visit their representatives in Washington, DC, as part of PowerShift 09, a gathering of 10,000 youth committed to clean energy and smart climate solutions.
“Green jobs and clean technology are so crucial,” Tate said. “This is a huge opportunity for an entire energy revolution.”
About the author:
Jonathan Springston is a Senior Staff Writer for The Atlanta Progressive News, and is reachable is jonathan@atlantaprogressivenews.com.
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