Monday, July 13, 2009

Mountaintop Removal in Appalachia: Perpetual Money Pit

Yearly coal mining in the Appalachia costs $9-$76 billion more than it brings in.

Health Costs Far Outpace Coal RevenueLooking at statistics from 2005 (the latest for which mortality rates are available) the researchers found that though coal mining brought in about $8 billion to the state coffers of Appalachian states, the costs of the shorter life-spans associated with coal mining operations were nearly $17 billion to $84.5 billion.

Coal mining areas in Appalachia were found to have nearly 11,000 more deaths each year than other places in the nation, with 2,300 of those attributable to environmental factors such as air and water pollution.


- Brewskie

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