During this past month I got around to reading Jeff Goodell‘s book “Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America’s Energy Future“. I came across this book after reading “Power To Save The World: The Truth About Nuclear Energy“; it seems appropriate to read up on what’s actually powering us now, instead of the ideal power source.
Jeff Goodell is a contributing editor to both Rolling Stone and The New York Times. He wrote the New York Times bestseller book “Our Story: 77 Hours That Tested Our Friendship and Our Faith“, which covered the Quecreek Mine accident of 2002. From this writing experience, he became interested in the coal industry as a whole. What he finds there is a grim reminder of America’s energy reality.
“Big Coal” refers to the coal-mining industry, the railroad-freight industry, and the electricity companies. Together they have allot of interdependency and allot of clout. The book’s order roughly covers the mining, transportation, and burning of coal, taking in-depth detours along the way to discuss miner’s safety, environmental safety, pollution ( both in heavy metals and noxious fumes, ) and global warming.
Unfortunately this book is not fresh on my mind, but there were several notable things:
- the interdependency of the coal-mining, railroad, and power companies.
- the ever increasing demands for energy consumption creating more coal-fired plants, despite their ugly environmental & health impacts.
- the undeniable evidence of the G. W. Bush’s administration giving Big Coal a free-pass.
There were other interesting bits, mostly political intrigue, along with some sorta notable technologies like CO2 sequestration and coal liquidification processes / IGCC power plat design.
Overall, it was a good book. I just read through it too fast, and didn’t have enough time to reflect upon it. 2.5 of 4 possible stars.