As our civilization advances over the years, we learn how to do things right. Otherwise, we might perish.

We learned years ago that we could burn coal to generate steam to efficiently heat buildings, power railroads and generate electricity, which is the most versatile and useful form of energy known today.

But we also have been generating electricity for over 100 years by building dams and generating hydroelectricity. Many of those renewable, non-polluting hydropower developments were the result of governments putting tax dollars to work for the common good. They were a part of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal.

Today, as we look back at the history of coal mining, we see a mixed bag of boom and bust.

A few weeks ago my wife and I toured several northeastern states and stopped in Newport, R.I., a popular tourist destination. We saw the carved marble bathtubs, gilded crystal chandeliers, collections of classic European art and beautiful seaside vistas that coal brought to a fortunate few. Nowadays, those palatial estates are too expensive for any family to manage, so they have been turned over to local organizations for tours. But we have yet to see where in West Virginia the people are prospering, living a life of beauty and culture, comfortable in their later years, reflecting on lives well-spent, as a result of the coal industry. What we have seen in the coal camps of West Virginia is something far less satisfying.

Coal mining is like a beast that must be tamed. Realistically, coal mining will continue in West Virginia until we convert to less harmful ways to produce electricity. But starting now, we can significantly cut the amount of electricity we waste by replacing incandescent light bulbs with efficient ones, adopting improved building and housing standards, improving refrigeration and air conditioning technology, and using automatic controls that cut electricity use when it isn't needed. None of this is a difficult challenge because the technology and tools are available today. All it takes is the political will and management of investments to do it.

We can increase the electricity generated by cheaper, less destructive means and replace what is generated by coal over a reasonable period of time. These proven methods can gradually overtake coal as a basis for employment in West Virginia and provide inexpensive electric power for future economic activity.

West Virginia's political leadership could turn the present sad situation around by addressing reasonable environmental standards, enacting and enforcing effective mine safety and health standards, and effectively taxing energy production in our state so that the public budget could support mining and environmental law enforcement as well as contribute to a stable infrastructure of education, public transportation, health care and investments in a rational, sensible and sustainable economy.

Instead, the state of West Virginia has become a kind of ad-hoc escort service, to put it politely, for the coal industry, doing nothing more than promoting coal mining in the face of many serious consequences, while short-changing public agencies that are unable to properly function due to insufficient numbers of poorly paid employees, a lack of leadership and training, and dire consequences for those in state jobs who object or complain.

Enough is enough. The coal industry doesn't need a government cheering section. It needs a government that provides uniform, reasonable measures to ensure that mining and other economic activity does as little harm as possible, while ensuring that appropriate taxes allow the wealth generated by coal to be shared by those who do the work.

While the coal industry promotes fantasies of carbon sequestration to obfuscate and confuse the public, it is the government's job to apply the skepticism of the scientific community and point out that nothing like carbon sequestration has ever been demonstrated to work. We know that in August, 1986, a huge amount of carbon dioxide was released from Lake Nyos in the African province of Cameroon that killed 1,700 people. We also know that in 2000, an abandoned coal mine in Kentucky spewed an enormous amount of liquid sludge into neighboring streams and was called (by the EPA, no less) the worst environmental disaster ever, east of the Mississippi. To choose to take such an enormous risk, in the face of proven, cost effective solutions like improved energy efficiency and clean alternative electric power generation, is singularly stupid. It is dumb no matter which way you look at it.

We in the United States of America appear to have a window of opportunity to turn things around in West Virginia and this country. The time is way overdue that we harness the economic engines in our country to do the things that make sense and stop doing the things that are stupid. It will take an outpouring of pressure on all our elected officials in order to make this happen. 

Harman was state coordinator for the Citizens/Labor Energy Coalition while working for the Council of Senior West Virginians, and worked for the Coalition of American Electric Consumers.  

We learned years ago that we could burn coal to generate steam to efficiently heat buildings, power railroads and generate electricity, which is the most versatile and useful form of energy known today.

But we also have been generating electricity for over 100 years by building dams and generating hydroelectricity. Many of those renewable, non-polluting hydropower developments were the result of governments putting tax dollars to work for the common good. They were a part of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal.

Today, as we look back at the history of coal mining, we see a mixed bag of boom and bust.

A few weeks ago my wife and I toured several northeastern states and stopped in Newport, R.I., a popular tourist destination. We saw the carved marble bathtubs, gilded crystal chandeliers, collections of classic European art and beautiful seaside vistas that coal brought to a fortunate few. Nowadays, those palatial estates are too expensive for any family to manage, so they have been turned over to local organizations for tours. But we have yet to see where in West Virginia the people are prospering, living a life of beauty and culture, comfortable in their later years, reflecting on lives well-spent, as a result of the coal industry. What we have seen in the coal camps of West Virginia is something far less satisfying.

Coal mining is like a beast that must be tamed. Realistically, coal mining will continue in West Virginia until we convert to less harmful ways to produce electricity. But starting now, we can significantly cut the amount of electricity we waste by replacing incandescent light bulbs with efficient ones, adopting improved building and housing standards, improving refrigeration and air conditioning technology, and using automatic controls that cut electricity use when it isn't needed. None of this is a difficult challenge because the technology and tools are available today. All it takes is the political will and management of investments to do it.

We can increase the electricity generated by cheaper, less destructive means and replace what is generated by coal over a reasonable period of time. These proven methods can gradually overtake coal as a basis for employment in West Virginia and provide inexpensive electric power for future economic activity.

West Virginia's political leadership could turn the present sad situation around by addressing reasonable environmental standards, enacting and enforcing effective mine safety and health standards, and effectively taxing energy production in our state so that the public budget could support mining and environmental law enforcement as well as contribute to a stable infrastructure of education, public transportation, health care and investments in a rational, sensible and sustainable economy.

Instead, the state of West Virginia has become a kind of ad-hoc escort service, to put it politely, for the coal industry, doing nothing more than promoting coal mining in the face of many serious consequences, while short-changing public agencies that are unable to properly function due to insufficient numbers of poorly paid employees, a lack of leadership and training, and dire consequences for those in state jobs who object or complain.

Enough is enough. The coal industry doesn't need a government cheering section. It needs a government that provides uniform, reasonable measures to ensure that mining and other economic activity does as little harm as possible, while ensuring that appropriate taxes allow the wealth generated by coal to be shared by those who do the work.

While the coal industry promotes fantasies of carbon sequestration to obfuscate and confuse the public, it is the government's job to apply the skepticism of the scientific community and point out that nothing like carbon sequestration has ever been demonstrated to work. We know that in August, 1986, a huge amount of carbon dioxide was released from Lake Nyos in the African province of Cameroon that killed 1,700 people. We also know that in 2000, an abandoned coal mine in Kentucky spewed an enormous amount of liquid sludge into neighboring streams and was called (by the EPA, no less) the worst environmental disaster ever, east of the Mississippi. To choose to take such an enormous risk, in the face of proven, cost effective solutions like improved energy efficiency and clean alternative electric power generation, is singularly stupid. It is dumb no matter which way you look at it.

We in the United States of America appear to have a window of opportunity to turn things around in West Virginia and this country. The time is way overdue that we harness the economic engines in our country to do the things that make sense and stop doing the things that are stupid. It will take an outpouring of pressure on all our elected officials in order to make this happen. 

Harman was state coordinator for the Citizens/Labor Energy Coalition while working for the Council of Senior West Virginians, and worked for the Coalition of American Electric Consumers.