National Advocacy Center
  • Who We Are
    • About
    • Staff & Advisory Board
    • Partners
    • Good Shepherd Sisters
    • Of Note News >
      • Of Note Archives 2022
      • Of Note Archives 2021
      • Of Note Archives 2020
      • Of Note Archives 2019
      • Of Note Archives 2018
      • Of Note Archives 2017
      • Of Note Archives 2016
      • Of Note Archives 2015
    • Contact
  • Act for Justice
    • Road to Justice
    • Human Trafficking Conference >
      • HT Packet & Digital Toolkit
    • Giving
    • Outreach
  • Issues
    • Central America
    • Economic Justice
    • End Racism
    • Human Trafficking >
      • Know the Signs
      • Trafficking Resources
    • Immigration & Refugees
    • Muslim Relations
    • Women & Children
  • Resources
    • Advocacy Tools
    • Analysis for Action
    • Poetry Library

The Carbon Link to Climate Change

3/2/2020

2 Comments

 
PictureA display in Minersville, PA – Photo by author

​Some issues relating to climate change are self-evident. Others require deeper knowledge to make them understandable. While the impact of fossil fuels is apparent to many on an environmental level, fossil fuels also are the subject of scientific studies.  Exxon, a main producer of fossil fuels, recognized long ago that these fuels have significant impacts on climate change in the scientific and statistical sense.

PicturePhotographer unknown
The burning of fossil fuels releases CO2 into the atmosphere. We know inherently that this is dangerous.  Seeing smoke billowing out of massive electrical generation facilities blots out the sky.  We can literally see the particles being diffused into the atmosphere.

Carbon monoxide, while invisible, is one of the outputs of internal combustion engines.  The danger of this gas is so high that we have alarms to detect it in homes.  We are warned not to use gas powered generators indoors, and we are careful to make sure we don’t run the car in the garage as this can be fatal. If emissions from one car can have such a dire impact, it is quite reasonable and accurate to assume that automobiles idling in massive traffic jams are even more dangerous.


Fuels also can damage the environment and contribute to climate change in more subtle ways. There actually are “clean” and “dirty” coals. The distinction refers to the efficiency of the coal to burn.  Clean coal contains little shale, slate or other non-burnable minerals.  When it burns, clean coal leaves very little ash in the environment and its burning consistency enables precise coal flow into boiler systems. 
               
Also, byproducts of coal production and usage also are very harmful to the environment and ultimately serve as accelerants to climate change. In anthracite coal areas such as the coal regions of Pennsylvania, abandoned mines are an obvious source of danger. Gas can build up in them and, of course, without maintenance the mine shafts will collapse. During the 1930s, the federal government spent millions of dollars as part of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to close abandoned mines. In Centralia, Pennsylvania, an underground fire in abandoned mine shafts forced the permanent evacuation of the town.  Although it started many years ago, the fire continues to burn today.

PicturePhoto by author
​ Other byproducts include slag, the non-burning materials separated from the coal in the coal breaker. Slag dumped in the region reach mountainous proportions. Despite being an eyesore, the slag piles leech into waterways when it rains, destroying the water quality in rivers, streams, and lakes. At one point, coal dust choked the Schuylkill River at Reading until the Army Corps of Engineers dredged the river. However, a side effect of dredging is the release of heavy metals.  The dangers of coal can be much more far-reaching than the obvious ones.              

PicturePhoto by author
Dealing with coal and other fossil fuel power generation takes determination.  The initial goal is to reduce the carbon output and eventually reach a carbon neutral state. Carbon neutrality results when the carbon released into the atmosphere is offset by carbon removed from it. A combination of alternative energy sources including windmills [no, they don’t cause cancer, contrary to President Trump’s assertion], solar, and tidal.
 
Additionally, trees very effectively convert CO2 into oxygen. Some commercial companies have invented filtering equipment that is tremendously effective at removing CO2. Hybrid and electrical automobiles contribute to cleaner air as well. It is very clear that we know how to clean the air, but it is equally clear that the United States has not made the commitment to do so.

Young people following leaders like Greta Thunberg are generating traction for change. Indeed, one the Democratic candidates’ debates focused on climate change government actions to combat it.  Individual also are installing solar panels on their properties to help reduce the kilowatt hours they must purchase from electrical generating companies. Other advantages to this trend will be considered in a future post.

I hope that knowledge - self-evident and learned - coupled with activism will lead to a reduction in the human actions contributing to climate change.  If not, we face the existential threat of ending life on this planet.  But we are people of hope.   

  ​
2 Comments
Fran Eskin-Royer
3/3/2020 03:26:30 pm

I had never heard of slag or its environmental impacts. Thank you for sharing what you've learned from your time in Pennsylvania.

Reply
Brigid Lawlor
3/10/2020 05:19:42 pm

Thanks, Jack. Very informative and great to add a line of hope at the end.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    John "Jack" Lawlor, Jr., is Professor of History Emeritus at Reading (PA) Area Community College. He firmly believes all people have an obligation to be good stewards of the earth, hand down a healthy planet to the next generation, and prepare them to do the same.


    RSS Feed

    From the Sisters....

    Good Shepherd priorities are outlined in a series of Position Papers that have their source in the spirituality, vision, mission, and heritage of the Congregation .  Read or print the 2018 Position Paper on the Integral Ecology by clicking here.  To read or print the complete series, click here.  ​For more background on the Good Shepherd 2018 Position Papers and to access them in Spanish, French or English, visit this site.
    Want more? Sign up for updates, resources, action alerts. Rise Up & Act for Justice.
    Sign Up

    Archives

    May 2021
    April 2021
    February 2021
    October 2020
    August 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019

    Categories

    All

NAC Quick Links

Ways to Act

Reach out to your elected officials and others on important policy decisions impacting the common good.
Act for Justice

Stay Informed

​Our email network alerts you to legislative news and directly connects you with lawmakers.
Sign Up

Advocacy Tools

Learn how to personally advocate for change and access other advocacy resources.
Access Tools

Our Issues

We advocate for laws that benefit the marginalized, especially families, women and children.  
Learn More

Contact

National Advocacy Center
of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd

504 Hexton Hill Road
​Silver Spring, MD  20904

Phone 301.622.6838 | Fax 301.384.1025
E-mail us
© COPYRIGHT 2015. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Website design adapted and modified by Perisphere Media.