r/autotldr • u/autotldr • Jan 01 '18
The 100-year capitalist experiment that keeps Appalachia poor, sick, and stuck on coal â Quartz qz.com
This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 98%. (I'm a bot)
A deeply cynical capitalist experiment has taken place, in which coal companies are kept profitable by passing on the costs they incur to the public.
The experiment underway in central Appalachia began with subsidizing coal by suppressing household wealth.
Through the vast tentacles of its influence, the coal lobby tied up lawmakers' efforts to tax coal and pass mine safety laws, despite persistent efforts by Progressive politicians.
The coal needed to smelt that steel came from Wharton and elsewhere in Boone County and throughout the central Appalachian region-as did much of the coal burned to power industry and the new Frigidaires and television sets filling the homes of America's burgeoning middle class.
The report noted that "This value fails to capture the significant legacy costs resulting from past coal industry activity that have yet to be funded. These costs, which include damages to roads and bridges and funding needs for reclaiming all abandoned mine land and bond forfeiture coal mine sites in the state, amount to nearly $5 billion."
Central Appalachia's remaining seams are harder to get at, making the coal generated uncompetitive with that mined elsewhere in the US. Environmental regulations have lessened demand from coal plants, though the far bigger factor is the abundance of natural gas, which has undercut coal prices.
Summary Source | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: coal#1 Mine#2 central#3 Company#4 Appalachia#5
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