You probably live far away from a coal mine. You may not live that near to a power plant that burns coal, either. But unless you’ve put solar panels on your roof or are purchasing power generated by the wind, you’re probably still using coal every day to power your lights, your laptop, your life.
Unless, that is, you live in the city of Georgetown, Texas. That’s right, Texas. Right in the heart of coal country in one of the “reddest” states in the union.
Most people in this city of 54,000 voted for Donald Trump, coal mining’s most famous crusader. They would not consider themselves environmentalists; they’re definitely not liberal or progressive activists. But as you’ll see when you watch “From the Ashes,” the don’t-miss new documentary premiering on the National Geographic Network on June 25, you don’t have to be Democrat or Republican to want to breathe clean air, protect clean water and save money on energy costs.
That’s why they’ve bucked the political rhetoric proclaiming there’s a “war on coal” and instead have set an amazing goal: they plan to switch over to getting 100% of their energy from renewable solar and wind, NOT coal, by 2018.
“From The Ashes,” makes a compelling case that this is a big deal. The film shows you just how damaging coal is for people and the planet. (Tweet this) Coal is the dirtiest of fossil fuels. Burning it fouls the air with noxious particulates and releases a significant proportion of the carbon dioxide that causes climate change. Whole mountain tops get blown away to make it easier to get to the coal below, which sends tons of rocks and debris sliding into river valleys, fouling rivers and streams and destroying forests. Plus, mining coal is among the deadliest of professions, given the potential for underground explosions and mine collapses.
But coal and coal miners have helped power America for decades, and “From The Ashes” poignantly acknowledges the debt we owe the industry and its workers for enabling America to become the industrial and economic powerhouse it has. It’s just that, it is more than time to move on, a message delivered in the film by coal miners themselves, as well as people living far from the mines and who are getting sick because the power plants that provide their electricity burn so much coal.
One of the film’s most compelling spokespeople is Misti O’Quinn. This mother of three lives in Dallas, where two of her children suffer severely from asthma brought on by breathing the city’s coal-polluted air. Some of the most heartbreaking scenes in the film show just how debilitated one of Misti’s little boys is. He’s practically tethered to a respirator, in and out of doctor’s offices, and a constant source of worry to his mom.
“Breath is life,” she says, whether we’re rich or poor, conservative or liberal. “It’s time to shift” to clean energy, she says, because, “if you don’t breathe, then what?”
A hot political issue has focused on how many coal miners are being put out of work as natural gas expands its reach and demand for clean safe energy grows. The film goes back to coal country again, this time to West Virginia, where the innovative Coalfield Development Corporation is doing what needs to be done: retraining coal miners in new occupations that don’t rely on coal to succeed, like community-based real estate development and social entrepreneurship. Part of their mission is to “inspire the courage to grow and the creativity to transform perceived liabilities into assets.” Goodbye coal, hello the future.
“From The Ashes” builds on the environmental philanthropic work of Bloomberg Philanthropies and serves as a sort of video companion to Climate of Hope, a book written by former New York City Mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg and former Sierra Club executive director Carl Pope, as well as the Beyond Coal campaign. The campaign is organizing local communities to retire old and outdated coal plans and to prevent new coal plants from being built. Thus far, the campaign has announced the pending phase out of nearly 40 percent of the 523 U.S. coal plants that were in operation when the campaign began five years ago.
“From the Ashes” also serves up a powerful argument in favor of maintaining America’s Clean Power Plan. You can’t watch this movie and think, “It’s not possible to get rid of coal.” Indeed, I’ll be surprised if you don’t come away thinking, “The sooner the better!”
I hope you’ll watch this film with your family and friends on Sunday, and urge your social networks to watch it as well.
TELL CONGRESS: NOBODY VOTED TO MAKE AMERICA DIRTY AGAIN
JOIN MOMS CLEAN AIR FORCE