Coal vs. Wind on a West Virginia Mountain

Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Coal River Mountain seen from Kayford Mountain (photo: Coal River Wind)

In an effort to save one piece of landscape from the destruction of surface coal mining, environmentalists in West Virginia are fighting to establish a wind farm atop Coal River Mountain. Proponents claim the wind energy project would save the mountain from the practice of “mountaintop removal mining,” generate enough electricity to make it a viable alternative to coal and help diversify the local job market, which is slanted heavily towards mining.

 
Making the wind farm a reality will be difficult. Coal River Mountain is privately owned and currently leased to coal interests. Most of the land that could be used for wind turbines is owned or leased by Rowland Land Company and Black King Mine Development. The mountaintop mining operation is to be carried out by Massey Energy.
 
Weaning West Virginia off coal will be another difficult task. Even though the state extracts millions of tons of coal a year (158 million in 2008 alone), it still has a reserve of 30 billion tons of the fossil fuel.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
 
A Battle in Mining Country Pits Coal Against Wind (by Tom Zeller Jr., New York Times)
What Do Wind Projects and Strip Mines Have in Common? (by Ken Ward Jr., Charleston Gazette)

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