Chapter 4: The Lecture

We, my fellow miners and I, worked the mines by day and always stopped off for a few brews before going home. As we left, we would see those damn kids with their picket signs. I remember saying someone ought to educate them in what coal really does for them as we left the parking lot.

We were drinking our beers when Mike said after giving his wife that e-mail about what wives say, she had one for him. Just to let you know, Mike and his wife Racene get along great. I think I could honestly say that they have always been faithful to each other. They are always throwing little digs at each other in a joking way of course.

Mike reached in his pocket and pulled out his e-mail.

After reading his joke from his wife, he pointed to his cheek and laughed. He told us that's where she beat the crap out of him. He and Racene had a marriage like Brenda and I used to have. I often remembered the happy times.

As we drank our beers, Matt Markly, one of our mine's head honchos came in. He was an alright guy and was pretty honest with us. He offered to buy the next round. Of course, we all accepted.

He looked over at me. "Rob, we heard you say today that someone ought to teach the protestors a little about the coal industry. We talked with the college and for Earth Day this year we are sending a representative to talk to the students about coal. We would like you to be the instructor."

"Whoa, Matt, I'm no teacher. I'm a coal miner and proud of it."

"Exactly, Rob! It's why we would like you to do it. It would be different hearing it from a miner's point of view. These students don't need some stuffed shirt telling them about the coal industry. Besides, it will give you a chance to speak your piece. Hell, they'll probably be only a dozen or so students show up, but you can say whatever you want, within reason of course."

The other guys sided with Matt and told me I should do it. They began calling me the teacher. I don't know why but I told Matt I would do it. He told me I had two days to prepare.

"Holy Shit! That's not much time, Matt."

"Just speak from the heart, Rob. You know the mines better than anyone does. If you need some facts and figures, come into the office library and get what you need."

Matt bought us one more round and thanked me for doing the company a favor. I went home and started to put some kind of presentation together. I thought to myself, I don't talk much but when I do, I open it wide enough to put my foot into it.

I went into the library the next day and got myself some more facts and figures. I needed a little proof to show these students how important our industry is to their daily lives. The day I headed over to the college, I had found out that a lumber/tree expert had talked to the group a couple of days earlier.

I walked into the college and asked what room the meeting was being held in. A student looked at me kind of weird and pointed to the auditorium. My God, I thought Matt said a dozen students. The auditorium held hundreds of people and was already half full with more students arriving every minute.

A nice lady came up to me and introduced herself as Ms. Angela Smiley. She explained to me that I was the last speaker for the Earth Day week celebration. She promised me that, if any students got out of hand, they knew that they would be expelled from college.

There were a few remarks made by Ms Smiley about Earth Day and what it meant, when it began and so on. Then, Ms. Smiley introduced me as Robert Mathais from the coal industry. I was a nervous wreck. If Matt were here now, I would wring his neck.

There were a few sparse claps from the audience as I approached the podium. I told them about myself and let them know that I had been a coal miner for over thirty years. I was proud of what the coal industry had done for America. One person kind of yelled out something about 'ruining the earth'. I told him I would get to that topic as well.

I decided to give them a little history lesson. I began by tell them about the use of coal. I used facts out of the library and had some transparencies made to flash on the viewing board behind me. I began my speech:

"About 30% of all fossil fuel consumed in the United States is used to make electricity. Conversely, most electricity, about 70%, produced in the US is generated using fossil fuels, especially coal. Typically, the coal from one or more mines is transported by railroad or barge to a steam generating plant. Turbine generators utilize the steam to generate electricity at high voltage.

This electricity is transformed (by a transformer) to a higher voltage for transmission over a power network to industrial, commercial and residential users. Near the users it is transformed again, down to a low voltage, where it is distributed to the users via the familiar distribution system of poles and overhead wires."

I could tell that they wanted to know more about the coal ruining the earth. I explained to them first why we burned or used coal.

"Most coal mined in the United States is burned to make electricity. About one billion tons per year goes to Electricity Production. Most people do not realize that when they use electricity, they are probably also using coal. Of the coal that is not used to make electricity, most is used to make steam for heating, as coke in steel making, or is exported. In developing countries, half the world's population depends on coal for heat.

"Let me put this in plain English that most of you may understand. We, the people - that's me and you - are what consume the coal. You want your iPod, your Wii game? Do you watch television? How about a computer, does anyone here own a computer? How about those CD's and DVD's? What do you listen and watch them on?"

"As I've mentioned to you, everything time you use electricity, you use coal since it is where the power companies get their fuel. You want to stop the coal companies from digging coal. Then get rid of everything you own that uses electricity.

"Tell your local hospital that they don't need all that equipment to save lives. What about the city? Tell them they don't need those lights that keep you safe at night. You need to look at the ways that coal has improved your life and your families' lives throughout the centuries. I can go on and on and tell you what the coal industry has meant to the world, but I think you might be getting the picture."

When I was finished a student stood up and said, "What you say is true but look what you have done to the earth."

"Let me be honest with you. I agree, many years ago that the earth was raped of many of its resources and the land left desolate. Today we have programs to make the mining areas reclaim the property to look as good or even better than it did before."

I put on some slides showing how the mining industry has reclaimed many sites. While the pictures were flashing on the screen behind me, I read from a mining article I found in the library. I skipped through it and just highlighted a few important elements of it.

"Reclamation is a process of systematically restoring mined land to productive uses, a kind of landscape plastic surgery that transforms former coal mines into productive, attractive, and useful areas. Until 1947, when Ohio's first surface-mining law was passed, surface mining was unregulated. In 1949, the Ohio Division of Reclamation (now the Division of Mineral Resources Management) was created and charged with administering the new reclamation laws. However, Ohio's surface-mining law was amended many times, and in 1972, became one of the nation's strictest laws regulating active surface mining.

"Before a company may begin surface mining, it must specify how topsoil, water conditions, vegetation, wildlife, and archaeological resources will be protected, in addition to outlining how the land will be mined and reclaimed. Also, the coal company must post a bond of $2,500 per acre to insure that successful land reclamation.

"Furthermore, for each ton of coal mined, Ohio coal operators pay federal and state severance taxes to be used in reclaiming abandoned mined lands. The federal severance tax is 35 cents per ton for surface-mined coal and 15 cents per ton for deep-mined coal; the state severance tax is 9 cents per ton. Reclamation of abandoned mined lands can cost $10,000 per acre, whereas the cost of reclaiming land concurrent with mining is $1,000-3,000 per acre.

"Today's coal operator must comply with many regulations. However, in spite of increasing regulations and cost to today's coal operator to perform acceptable reclamation, numerous coal operators demonstrate that a business can be profitable and at the same time restore mined land to usefulness and productivity."

I further told the student that since I've been mining, the company I worked for has planted over a half million trees. So in the future, the generations to come will have the same if not better land on which to live.

In summing up, I told them that they controlled their future. If they thought there was too much coal being mined that they and all of their friends and family could all stop using anything electrical in their lives. There would be no need to mine coal if it wasn't being used.

I finished by telling them that I figured that a lot of what I said would go in one ear and out the other but if nothing else, they knew that they were responsible for the use of any coal that was mined.

I did receive applause when I finished. I looked over to the side and saw Matt clapping for me. He must have come in while I was talking. At least I got a chance to speak my piece. A few students came up to me afterwards and thanked me for the lesson. For some reason they never put the coal industry and electric together.

One woman came up to me and told me thank you. She went on to tell me her father was a miner also but had retired around ten years ago. Her name was Mary and she looked to be in her late thirties to early forties.