Mountain State Matters

Let’s just say that hypothetically a small mountain community is able to choose between two different types of energy production. Both will put their town in a place of providing energy for a good chunk of the country. Both will provide jobs. One will be sustainable. The other will ruin the town’s mountains and streams and be used up in 14 years.

This is the quandary in which the folks of Coal River Mountain find themselves. An article today in the Register-Herald outlined the community’s proposal to the Raleigh County Commission to support a wind farm, rather than strip mining, on the mountain’s ridges.

A study was conducted that found the mountain’s ridges had strong Class 4 to Class 7 average annual wind speeds.

“It was found that Coal River Mountain has enough wind potential and land area to accommodate 220 two-megawatt wind turbines. Calculations showed that this was enough energy to power over 150,000 homes or over 90,000 total electricity customers, including residential, commercial and industrial units,” [Rory Mcilmoil of Coal River Mountain Watch said.]

Mcilmoil claims production estimates in the strip mining permits show that mining operations will last for only 14 years.

“Once the coal is gone, there will be no more jobs available, the water will be contaminated, many of the residents will have moved out or been bought out, and the forest, another source of potential jobs and revenue, will be gone for decades to come, as will the possibility of producing clean wind energy on the scale that is currently available,” he said.

The project also has the support of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Appalachian Voices and the Sierra Club.

A fact that’s key is that mining permits haven’t yet been issued for the land, so there could be time to get a wind farm in. Let’s hope the Raleigh County Commission realizes a great opportunity for Southern West Virginia to begin cultivating more sustainable, environmentally-friendly energy sources.

Photo by: Lost Bob