I’m not going to say much about this video below, except to say that we need to have less of these types of power plants. Coal proponents will point out that much of the steam you see in the video is in fact mostly H20. What’s frightening is all of the arsenic, lead, mercury, nitrogen, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and coal ash that you don’t see being released into the air and into underground water supplies. I’m not even talking about carbon dioxide or the environmental devastation of mountain top removal that decimates pristine habitats and leaves the world that much uglier. Reminds me of that Joni Mitchell song, “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”

It’s been a little over a year since the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill in December of 2008, but please don’t forget it. Sadly, that spill was just the tip of the iceberg. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), there are 584 more hazardous coal ash dump sites located in 35 states.

Coal Power Plant Timelapse from

Timelapse Coal Power Plant from Jeff Grewe on Vimeo.

I know the above video and related news sucks, but don’t just stick your head in the sand! You’re not powerless. You can do something. At the very least, you can reduce your energy needs with quick, cheap, energy efficiency measures. That’s number one.

Second, you can consider solar and get a free estimate of your costs. Depending on your state and utility, you could be cash positive the first month. But you can’t know that unless you get a quote. And it’s free, so what can it hurt but a little bit of time?

Finally, you can share this post with friends by email, Face Book, Digg or any other social networking site. That will help others to think about steps they can take too. Just take one step!

Thanks.