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Wall Street Journal (1923 - Currentfile); Feb 11, 1985;
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Wall Street Journal (1889?1993)

pg. 7

 

 

Let?s not
dump
the blame

on coal.

All of us have a right to be
concerned about acid rain.
But it has become such an
emotional issue, that it has
been blown out of reasonable
proportion. Certain factions
are grabbing at early solu-
tions and are ready to try
almost anything at any cost.
Sadly, America?s most abun-
dant energy resource?coal?
has been indicted as the major
contributor to the pollutants
that form acid rain and to the
ultimate damage for which
acid rain is blamed. But what
is the truth?

Not all the facts
are in.

A Hudson Institute study,
completed in November 1983,
indicates: (1) the pollutants in
acid rain are only a minor
contributor to the high-level
acidity found in some Eastern
lakes and streams; (2) this
acidity, which is hostile to the
existence of game fish and
other aquatic creatures, is
mostly natural rather than
industrial in origin; (3) the
popular notion that acid rain
threatens forests in the
Eastern U.S. (and all across
the earth's Temperate Zone),
is based more on conjecture
than on substance and is
probably wrong.

ls coal the
culprit?

You decide, based on the facts.
Fact: rain is naturally acidic,
but becomes more acidic
when it dissolves airborne
oxides of sulfur and nitrogen.

 

Fact: the most notorious of
these compounds is sulfur
dioxide, which is released into
the atmosphere when fuels
containing sulfur are burned
by conventional means. Fact:
some types of coal fall into
this fuel category.

However, coal combustion
is just one of the many atmos-
pheric pollutants that can
increase the natural acidity of
rainfall. That acidity, along
with a lot of other factors,
might contribute to the prob-
lems for which acid rain is
blamed. But let?s not single
out coal. For example, acid?
forming humus in the soil of
forest ?oors might well be the
dominant factor in lake acid-
ification since it can contain
as much acid as would be
expected to settle on the
forest in 1,000 years of acid
rainfall.

?Better information is
needed,? says the US Geo-
logical Survey?s chief hydrolo-
gist Ranard J. Pickering, 
?both about the acidification
of lakes and streams and
about the purported cause of
this acidification.?

Let?s look
before we leap.

The Reagan Administration
proposes a budget of $55 mil-
lion for acid rain research by
the Environmental Protection
Agency in 1985?with perhaps
an additional $50 million to
monitor and rehabilitate sen-
sitive lakes that may be sub-
ject to acid rain and runoff.
These are reasonable
expenditures. However, they
are a drOp in the bucket com-
pared to new blanket legisla-
tion currently being proposed
to Congress that would place
highly restrictive and expen-
sive emission limitations on
industrial and power plants.
The resultant costs would
in?ict a heavy burden on the

American taxpayer, could deal
a severe blow to American
industry, increase unemploy?
ment and curtail economic
recovery. These sulfur dioxide
emission-control programs
would cost America about $6
billion annually, with long-
range totals reaching the
hundreds ?of billions. Yet, the
programs may have little or

no effect on the problems
ascribed to acid rain.

Actions
we can take now.

Before we legislate prohib-
itively expensive controls,
let?s start with affordable
short-term corrective action,
such as liming those lakes
found to be acidic, rather than
spend- billions on speculation.

New technologies
brighten
coal?s future.

Coal can be burned cleanly
today and research is devel-
oping other ways in which
energy can be extracted from
it. Coal gasification and lique-
faction produce gas
and liquid petroleum. A
remarkable process called
?uidized bed combustion
burns coal cleanly and effi-
ciently while emitting vir-
tually no sulfur and nitrogen
oxides. It requires no scrub-
bers to clean the sulfur from
the ?ue gases. It doesn?t melt
coal ash into slag that fouls
and corrodes equipment. Yet
it can burn any coal, from top-
quality grades to those with
high sulfur, high ash, or high
moisture content.

As the Secretary of Energy
of the United States has
observed, ?Through deveIOp-
ment of advanced technology
for cleaner, more efficient
coal consumption, we can
show. . .that not only is our
most abundant fossil energy

-
MINING MACHINERY

 

resource essential to our
economic growth and energy
security, but it is also com-
patible with our environ-
mental objectives.?

You can in?uence our energy
future. To help you do that,
we?ve prepared a booklet
entitled, Coal. America?s
Best-Kept Secret. Return the
coupon below for your copy
and then make your decision
on What you can do to help
clarify the thinking of those
individuals confused about

coaL

Ingersoll-Rand has pledged
its resources to help propel
American concern about our
energy future into concrete
action. Among other products,
we manufacture machinery
used to mine coal. But that?s
not the only reason we?re
involved: mining companies
will require equipment even
if our energy policies go
unchanged. We're involved
for the same reason you
should get involved: because
America must address its
energy future and act now.

lngersoll-Rand

Mining Machinery Group
4201 Lee Highway

Bristol, VA 24201

Please send a copy of Coal

A )m?nm Bast-K01)! Secret and
related materials to:

 

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