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a climate crisis will not be resolved as long as fossil energy has this substantial price
advantage.
Billions of U.S. government and industry research dollars have been spent on
alternative energy studies since the 1973–74 OPEC oil embargo, mostly focused on
developing and improving new energy technologies to make them more costcompetitive with fossil. Wind, solar, biofuels, and others have made inroads in past
decades to be sure, but struggled against cheap fossil energy prices the entire time.
Had fossil energy been forced to pay the costs that are currently externalized, it
would be far more expensive and clean energy technologies could have competed
more easily on price. Higher-priced fossil fuel also reduces waste and encourages
conservation, which reduces GHG emissions.
The most blatant example of an externalized cost for fossil energy is a brutal
surface mining process called “mountain top removal” or MTR, used to extract
Appalachian coal. Many of the “mountains” in the coal-rich regions of the
Appalachian plateau are actually flat-topped, isolated tables of rock (called a mesa
out west) that were carved out of the plateau by deep, water-cut ravines. The coal
seams are contained within the upper parts of these tables as thin, horizontal beds
overlain by a few dozen feet (meters) of sedimentary rocks known as overburden.
The MTR process uses explosives and heavy equipment to strip off the overburden
across the entire table and this material is then dumped into the surrounding stream
valleys. The coal is excavated from the exposed seam, and the area is abandoned
“as-is” once mining is complete. The site is left to weather and erode. There is no
mitigation to prevent damage to the surrounding streams, and no remediation of the
highly disturbed landscape. These abandoned MTR mines literally look like the
surface of the moon.
Although MTR mining operations frequently cause subsequent problems to
groundwater and surface water quality, decimate aquatic ecosystems, and damage
the health of surrounding human populations, the coal industry is rarely held responsible. State and federal governments usually step in and perform the required
cleanup. States like West Virginia perform remediation on acidic and lifeless streams
as sulfides in water seeping out of the abandoned mines react with air to create sulfuric acid in the drainage. The feds have paid for stream monitoring to assess water
quality impairment and determine the potential for flash floods in the disturbed and
modified watershed. Human health problems are addressed by state public health
agencies, and the responsibility for restoring fish populations, forests, and a stable
landscape falls on various government agencies, not the coal companies. Remediation
costs for an MTR project are picked up by state and federal taxpayers. The mining
company that caused the damage and the power plants and steel mills that used the
coal usually pay little or nothing.
Years ago, the operators of surface coal mines (popularly called “strip mines,”
but not by the industry) were required to restore the land to the “original contours”
after mining operations were completed, plant vegetation, and generally leave
behind real estate that was useful for other purposes. The industry fought these
regulations, claiming that coal would become too expensive to compete with other
forms of energy. They threatened to eliminate jobs, close down mines, and move
11.2 Externalized Costs
a climate crisis will not be resolved as long as fossil energy has this substantial price
advantage.
Billions of U.S. government and industry research dollars have been spent on
alternative energy studies since the 1973–74 OPEC oil embargo, mostly focused on
developing and improving new energy technologies to make them more costcompetitive with fossil. Wind, solar, biofuels, and others have made inroads in past
decades to be sure, but struggled against cheap fossil energy prices the entire time.
Had fossil energy been forced to pay the costs that are currently externalized, it
would be far more expensive and clean energy technologies could have competed
more easily on price. Higher-priced fossil fuel also reduces waste and encourages
conservation, which reduces GHG emissions.
The most blatant example of an externalized cost for fossil energy is a brutal
surface mining process called “mountain top removal” or MTR, used to extract
Appalachian coal. Many of the “mountains” in the coal-rich regions of the
Appalachian plateau are actually flat-topped, isolated tables of rock (called a mesa
out west) that were carved out of the plateau by deep, water-cut ravines. The coal
seams are contained within the upper parts of these tables as thin, horizontal beds
overlain by a few dozen feet (meters) of sedimentary rocks known as overburden.
The MTR process uses explosives and heavy equipment to strip off the overburden
across the entire table and this material is then dumped into the surrounding stream
valleys. The coal is excavated from the exposed seam, and the area is abandoned
“as-is” once mining is complete. The site is left to weather and erode. There is no
mitigation to prevent damage to the surrounding streams, and no remediation of the
highly disturbed landscape. These abandoned MTR mines literally look like the
surface of the moon.
Although MTR mining operations frequently cause subsequent problems to
groundwater and surface water quality, decimate aquatic ecosystems, and damage
the health of surrounding human populations, the coal industry is rarely held responsible. State and federal governments usually step in and perform the required
cleanup. States like West Virginia perform remediation on acidic and lifeless streams
as sulfides in water seeping out of the abandoned mines react with air to create sulfuric acid in the drainage. The feds have paid for stream monitoring to assess water
quality impairment and determine the potential for flash floods in the disturbed and
modified watershed. Human health problems are addressed by state public health
agencies, and the responsibility for restoring fish populations, forests, and a stable
landscape falls on various government agencies, not the coal companies. Remediation
costs for an MTR project are picked up by state and federal taxpayers. The mining
company that caused the damage and the power plants and steel mills that used the
coal usually pay little or nothing.
Years ago, the operators of surface coal mines (popularly called “strip mines,”
but not by the industry) were required to restore the land to the “original contours”
after mining operations were completed, plant vegetation, and generally leave
behind real estate that was useful for other purposes. The industry fought these
regulations, claiming that coal would become too expensive to compete with other
forms of energy. They threatened to eliminate jobs, close down mines, and move
11.2 Externalized Costs