[Coach_Owens87]

CO87: You say we have the ability to build a economy without coal. If this can be done then why hasn't this been started before now.

CO87: No one wants to see flat mountains. As we discussed in another thread, only 6% of the land in Eastern Ky is suitable for surface mining.

CO87: It only takes a handful of men to do the job that hundreds used to do. Give me a industry that employees as many people today that it employeed 30 to 50 years ago. The number of employees at auto manufactures have dropped, due to new technology, Construction companies are using less people and building more. Technology has changed every profession, and mining is no different, miners are able to mine more coal with less people just as the auto industry is able to build more cars with fewer people.


CO87: Lung Cancer, birth defects and asthma due to coal mining. I guess Eastern Kentucky having the highest amount of smokers doesn't affect lung cancer? Could so many women smoking, drinking or taking drugs have anything to do with birth defects?

CO87: MTR needs to be controlled or stopped. Which do you want controlled or stopped, if you want it controlled then you don't want it stopped. You say you against MTR are you ok with Contour Surface Mining?

CO87: MTR takes away jobs. I've heard this comment so many times, and it's completely false 80% of Surface mining operations mine coal that cannot be mined by underground methods. Most of these coal seams are not economical to mine underground, due to low recovery rates, geological conditions etc.

CO87: This Earth is God given. Your right God gave us this Earth, he also gave us the coal, oil, limestone, gas, trees and everything else on it to use.

CO87: Property Value of a home drops 90% near mine sites. I found a article where a reporter found just the opposite, property values were higher! The best thing would be to check with your PVA.

Only 6% is suitable for mining[B] Since no industry keeps up with the total amount of land mined, that statement cannot be backed up. The latest estimate of land to be mined is 1.4 million acres by 2010, I dont know the exact land mass of eastern ky, but I would guess thats more than 6% [/B]

Less people mining Yes you are correct that as technology increases the amount of people needed to do a job decreases. Which has nothing to do with my argument, if anything you proved it. Mining jobs have decreased. Thats all I was trying to say, nothing more.

Contour surface mining Since contour mining is rarely used, I don't think it really plays an important role in this discussion. I know contour mining was used a lot in the 70's and is still being used somewhat in Tennessee. The reclamation done on contour sites is no better than what is used in MTR, the high walls cannot be filled in so that just remain there. Contour mining is not as bad on the environment as MTR, but I believe we should step away from fossil fuels.

Home values A lot of homes that are near MTR sites suffer tremendous damages during blasting. A lot of the residents don't have the money to repair their homes, which causes a tremendous decline in home value. That coupled with the dangers of mudslides, and flooding causes the majority of homes to drop in value. The only way I see an increase would be in land sold on top of the strip mine, and that would be because before mining the land wasn't suitable to build on. But 90% of mined land is not used, so that argument doesn't hold up.

Health Yes all the things you mentioned does have an impact on the health issues. Here is the point I was trying to make, the water in eastern Ky is so full of mercury, lead, ammonium and other chemicals that eating fish, or drinking water from most water sources increases the chance of birth defects by nearly 50%. Children in Eastern KY are 50% more likely to have asthma, if smoking was the only issue, states such as New York, North Carolina, and South Carolina, all with high smoker percentages should have comparable rates, they don't.

God given earth[B] We could argue about this forever, it's all in how one takes the word of god, [/B]