00136 00:10:41-00:10:46 When it’s windy it’s very polluted. We didn’t see this in the old days. 00:10:46-00:10:51 The good thing is now young people have jobs because of coal mining. TITLE IDEAS: In China, Coal’s Cost China’s coal consumption accounts for 1/5th of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions. But here in the heart of coal country, in Northern China, rising incomes and opportunity offset concerns about climate change and the environment. 00301 00:03:08-00:03:12 There’s no need to worry. We have a nice environment. 00300 00:08:52-00:08:57 Salaries used to be $80-90 per month. Now they are around $800-900. Qian Fuxiang used to live in the countryside, but his employer Datong Coal Company relocated him to Hengan New District, known to locals here ironically, as “Shanty Town.” The 1700 gleaming apartment buildings began rising in 2008 to house 300,000 miners and their families, as well as those displaced by the growing mines. 00300 00:04:36-00:04:38 We don’t burn coal for daily life here. It’s not allowed. 00:04:38-00:04:41 So there’s no pollution. Moving workers and their families from rural areas plagued by coal dust to a pop-up city has put pollution out of sight, and in the hopes of officials, out of mind. The free houses didn’t hurt either. 00301 00:00:34-00:00:43 00:00:34-00:00:43 It didn’t matter if you had a house or not, now basically every family has a house. 80 percent of China’s electricity is generated by coal-fueled power plants. Despite this, China’s President Xi Jinping has publicly pledged to wean the country from its coal binge. But you won’t see much support for that here, where locals see coal as their future, highlighting the great divide in China’s dedication to curb emissions. Here in the Tashan Industrial Zone, Datong Coal Company has plans for 11 more mines, on top of the many dozens they already operate. 00318 00:05:46-00:05:55 This zone uses two mines, which produce 10 millions tons of coal. The Tashan mine is heralded as a beacon for clean coal production, a show-and-tell stop for pro-coal politicians. Officials point to environmental enhancements in how coal is brought out of the ground. 00319 00;08:39-00:08:46 The three wastes: materials, gas and water get fully recycled here. 00:08:48-00:08:49 You can say the ecological benefit is quite obvious. 00:08:49-00:08:53 You can see this from the environmental conditions in our zone. 00:08:53-00:09:00 You won’t see coal from the outside, although we’re producing coal. This is outstanding. Although the group has reduced industrial waste in the coal mining process, a deeper look into the Datong Coal Company shows 71 other mines in the area that don’t follow this model. And a cleaner process to pull coal from the ground can’t mitigate the real environmental cost, when it’s burned. Many locals here say the state owned mines are so politically and economically powerful, that government regulations are selectively enforced. 0322 00:04:17-00:04:21 I don’think the city government has any control over the Datong Coal Mine Company. 00:04:21-00:04:23 Wang Ximing used to work for Datong Coal Company but quit after an accident killed a colleague. Now he drives a cab, dodging coal trucks on the roads above the mines. (I added the killed colleague bit back in because he references it below) Mr. Wang has learned a lot listening to conversations in his backseat. He says coal companies like Datong will go at great lengths to avoid bad press about their industry. He once drove local journalists to an accident. 0322 00:05:38-00:05:45 There was a flooding accident at Xinwang coal mine. Some local journalists from Shanxi went to check it out. 00:05:45-00:05:52 The mine reported that there was two or three men who had died in a flooding accident. 00:05:52-00:05:54 But there were more than two or three people. 00:05:54-00:05:58 Datong Coal Mine Company led the two journalists aside and gave them money. 00:05:58-00:06:03 The journalists accepted the money and then didn’t report the news. They didn’t do any interviews. But even Mr. Wang who has seen some of the worst the mining industry has to offer is quick to take handouts from the company. 00321 00321 00:00:38-00:00:41 Our house got demolished and we received four apartments. 00:00:41-00:00:44 Now life is good. We became rich in one night. 00321 00:04:59-00:05:03 After my friend died, I stopped working underground and stayed above ground. 00:05:09-00:05:11 But they still pay me even I don’t go work there now. 00:05:11-00:05:15 They pay me 4000 RMB per month. While mine owners paint a rosy picture in and around the residential developments and the model mines, many rural residents share little of the spoils. 00136 00:18:23-00:18:26 Our lands were destroyed, blown up for mining. 00:18:26-00:18:31 There are stones everywhere. You cannot grow crops on it anymore. Wang Yongxiang lives next to an open pit coal mine 2 hours from Shanty Town. 00:11:27-00:11:37 Ten years ago they dug into the ground for coal, now there’s coal everywhere. 00:11:37-00:11:45 When there’s wind, especially when trucks pass by, there is coal dust everywhere. 00:11:45-00:11:48 The air looks very black. 00:11:48-00:11:53 But who can we complain to about this? 00136 00:05:36-00:05:39 (sigh) This is not a solvable problem. 00:05:39-00:05:48 Our leaders in the county allow them to mine for coal. 00:05:48-00:05:53 We don’t have a place to complain, so we just let it be polluted. 00:05:53-00:05:58 If you did a health check for our villagers here, most of them would have lung disease. 00:05:58-00:06:02 This place is polluted the whole year, during all four seasons. Mr Wang has lost his income, food source and is plagued by coal dust. But while his livelihood has been destroyed, he has no choice but to accept the industry and its impact on his environment. And with an average of 1 new coal power plant coming online every 10 days for the next 10 years, President Xi’s notion to reduce coal consumption seems hollow, and for many unwanted. And according to U.S. government projections, China will add the equivalent of a new 600-megawatt coal plant every 10 days for the next 10 years. http://www.climatecentral.org/blogs/chinas-growing-coal-use-is-worlds-growing-problem-16999 00136 00:22:39-00:22:50 We all think that they can excavate the mountain for a few more years, if they keep doing it. 00:22:50-00:22:52 But if they stop excavating the mountain and we’ve lost our lands, 00:22:52-00:22:57 we won’t even have jobs. We won’t be able to survive. 00:22:57-00:23:01 All the lands are destroyed. If you want to work you’ll have to leave the village. 00:23:01-00:23:07 But if they keep excavating the mountain we can still get jobs here. We won’t have to move to the city.