The Wyoming legislature has approved financing the construction of coal ports in the northwest states up to $1 billion. These ports can send Wyoming coal all over the world, notably putting it up for sale in the Asian market.
Assuming China wants our coal—which, according to Rep. Thomas Lockhart, R-HD57, is “cleaner” than coal produced there—Wyoming could make a lot of money. Or we might not. I don’t regularly follow the coal market and I could not begin to estimate how much longer coal will be seen as a valued resource or any of the economics underlying this issue.
What I’m concerned about is the environment, because I am invested in that. Money is nice because you can buy milkshakes with it, but the environment is nice because it’s mysterious and powerful and sustains life on earth.
Mining for coal has negative impacts on the environment. Stay with me, Wyomingite readers, I swear I’m not your enemy. Although advances in technology have reduced the negative consequences of coal mining so that it’s no longer as harmful as it used to be, it’s still harmful.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t build these coal ports. And I’m definitely not saying we should stop mining for coal. (The legislature did not pass the firing squad bill introduced this year, but I’m sure the powers that be would make an exemption for a coal-hating hippie.)
My humble suggestion is that if we do start making money from a coal-hungry Asia, if we are therefore mining more and more coal, if we’re giving the environment a cold for financial gain, we have an obligation to give some of that back to the environment so it can afford cold medicine.
I mean, it might be easier to not make the environment sick in the first place—are those rifles? Is that a blindfold? Me? I was just praying to Coal, our Lord and Savior. Nothing amiss here.
Seriously though, if you throw a party, you clean it up the next day. Toss out the wounded soldiers, figure out who managed to leave their shoes here and hope—pray—that nobody did any lasting damage to the house you and your roommate have to live in, because some carnage can’t be undone.
