Cross posted from Appalachian Voices Front Porch Blog

By J e d

Mounting evidence shows mountaintop removal is detrimental to the health of local communities, to the land it flattens, and to the water it buries and pollutes, but the industry loves to tout that coal is good for local economies.

But is that really the case?

Two blockbuster reports released today by Downstream Strategies reveal that every year the coal industry costs West Virginia and Tennessee millions more than it brings in.  Examining the revenues and expenditures of coal industry employment, taxes and subsidies in Tennessee and West Virginia, the reports confirm the suspicions of many skeptical of Big Coal’s tired talking points.

Like this one from FACES of Coal:

“Economically healthy coal mining equals a healthy community.”

Well, besides the fact that I doubt you or anyone you know wants to live or work near this:

While contending with this:

Downstream Strategies now points out that in West Virginia the coal industry brought $600.7 million in revenues to the state in 2009, which turns out to be $97.5 million less than the $698.2 million the industry cost the Mountain State in the same year.  In Tennessee, the bottom line amounted to an estimated net economic loss of $3 million.

So much for that talking point.

But let’s be fair - To FACES credit they don’t say “Economically healthy coal mining equals an economically healthy community.” Nope, they simply say it equals a healthy community, and considering the fact that permissible Clean Water Act “fill” has come to mean this in the coal industry…

Perhaps, “healthy” has come to mean something completely unexpected in the industry as well.  FACES! You lovably, anonymous “people” are such cut ups.  ; ) Afterall, the Gallup-Healthways’ Well-Being Index points out that Appalachian congressional districts where mountaintop removal is most prevalent are the unhealthiest in the nation year after year.

In any case, lead author of the Downstream Strategies reports, Rory McIlmoil notes, “While the coal industry provides significant benefits for state budgets, the industry also imposes substantial costs that impacted the budgets of both states in 2009. These are costs that, lacking a change in state policy, will be paid by the citizens of Appalachia for decades.”

The reports are two in a series of studies on coal’s impact to the economy of Central Appalachia. Another was released on Kentucky last year, and an evaluation of Virginia is expected in the future. Copies of both reports can be found at www.downstreamstrategies.com.

Click here to go directly to a pdf of the the WV report.

Click here to go directly to a pdf of the TN report.