To observe this month for Fire Prevention is incomplete without tackling what may well be fuel to our destruction.

News recently broke out concerning the approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission of the power sales contract between the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO) and the KEPCO-SPC Power Corp. The contract is designed to address the apparent need for more power by 2011.

Resumption of protests is expected to mount against this move considering its direct impact on the people’s health and the consequent ecological damage such as contamination of the food chain.

But what is coal? It is a fossil fuel, like oil, that are decomposed products of organic materials such as plants that have been subjected to geologic heat and pressure over millions of years. Humans cannot replenish it in their lifetime, thus it is called non-renewable resource.

In order for it to reach the consumer as electricity, for example, several stages have to be undergone. It has to be extracted from underground or surface mines, transported to power plants (usually by train, barge or truck) and burned in a boiler to produce steam. The steam run through the turbine to generate electricity.

As we have discussed in previous articles (“Medical Errors”) as the system involve more steps, the likelihood for error to occur increases progressively. In this case, the health effects and environmental damage is magnified by every step taken to derive a kilowatt hour of power in the consumer’s house.

At the mining site, mine workers develop the so-called “Coal Miners’ Lung” or what technically is called Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis. In this condition, fibrosis or hardening of the lung tissues occur as the body’s defences tries to stave off the threat of carbon deposits in the lungs. The incidence of this disease is dropping in the Unites States whereas it is increasing in areas where new mines are open.

The transport of coal generates costs and environmental impact as fuel is consumed further. A potent greenhouse gas trapped in coal such as methane is often vented during the transport process to increase safety.

The ever dwindling water supply of the earth is farther harmed. In order to improve combustibility and impurities from coal, large quantities of water are often suctioned off rivers and lakes for the “cleansing” process. The final step undertaken in the coal-fired power plants further consume large qualities of water to produce steam and to cool the machines.

The water used in the power plant will then be discharged backed to the rivers and lakes where humans, animals and plants depend for their survival. Pollutants can build up and harm the public more than the convenience of a well-lit night. Unused coal are stored which can be rained on and produce water run offs that carry heavy metals from the coal such as arsenic and lead.

Acute arsenic poisonings results in decay of the intestinal lining causing internal bleeding, dehydration, kidney damage, delayed-onset heart muscle disease, and destruction of red blood cells.

Chronic arsenic exposure causes diabetes, vasospasm, peripheral vascular insufficiency and gangrene, peripheral neuropathy, and cancer of skin, lung, liver (angiosarcoma), bladder, and kidney.

On the other hand, acute exposure to lead at blood lead levels (BPb) of > 60–80 g/dL can cause impaired brain cell death and inability to transmit signals. (Transmitting signals is the most basic function of the brain.) The kidneys suffer varied degrees of failure while the ability of the bone marrow to produce new blood cells is impaired.

At higher levels of exposure (BPb > 80–120 g/dL), the victim suffers from acute encephalopathy with convulsions, coma, and death likely to occur.

Among children even low levels (BPb 25–60 g/dL) are associated with anemia; mental retardation; and deficits in language, motor function, balance, hearing, behavior, and school performance. Impairment in the intelligence quotient (IQ) is observed even among those that have almost undetectable levels of lead in the bloodstream.

Adults suffer similar illnesses when exposed to low lead levels (chronic subclinical exposures at BPb > 40 g/dL). More notably they develop anemia, nerve-muscle disorders, impaired reaction time, high blood, heart rhythm abnormalities, chronic renal failure, spontaneous abortion and diminished sperm count.

Burning coal for fuel inevitably cause gaseous emissions such as carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and mercury compounds. It is often argued by proponents of coal-power plants that they are compliant with regulations and have control devices to reduce the emissions, the fact remains that there will always be emissions that cause harm to the public particularly on their health and their survival.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency report an average emission rates in the US from coal-fired generation are: 2,249 lbs/MWh of carbon dioxide, 13 lbs/MWh of sulfur dioxide, and 6 lbs/MWh of nitrogen oxides.

Even though concentrations of mercury in ambient air is generally far too low to be considered a health or environmental hazard its ready conversion to the toxic methylmercury compound after it settles in the soil and water can bioaccummulate in aquatic food chains and expose humans to harmful doses of mercury.

Acute inhalation of mercuric vapor causes inflammation of the lung tissues, and lung edema (noncardiogenic causes) that lead to symptoms attributable to brain dysfunction, multiple nerve tissue involvement and death

When exposed for months to years (even at low levels) mercurial erethism is observed as characterized by behavioral and personality changes such as extreme shyness, excitability, loss of memory, and insomnia; lower exposures impair renal function, brain-muscle coordination speed, and memory.

Unbeknownst to many, fetuses, infants and children can be victims of mercury poisoning before they are even born. Their exposure in the womb can result from the mother’s consumption of fish and shellfish that contain methylmercury which can accumulate over prolonged flow of mine-tailings and ash falls from combustion of coal.

The primary effect on the health for these hapless victims is impaired neurologic development. These toxins can adversely affect a baby's growing brain and nervous system. They have learning difficulties owing to problem in memory, attention, language, spatial and fine motor (dexterity).

To be provided with electricity derived from coal does not remove our moral responsibility to protect the welfare of the people, the future of the environment and the life of all its inhabitants.

Even if the processing of coal to generate electricity is far removed from our sight, the toxic effect it produces will eventually reach our doorstep sooner than expected. As outlined in this article, the trail of destruction begin at the extraction, reach the consumer and reverts to the source as an economic, environmental, sociological, personal and political disadvantage.

Even the US refused to unilaterally discontinue the operation of its coal-powered plant for the reason that even if they do so, the emissions generated by other countries utilizing coal will still be their problem. (Sick isn’t it?)

It is our moral obligation as consumers to reduce power consumption, refrain from promoting establishments that excessively waste power and doggedly ask the powerbrokers to stop crafting bright ideas that extinguishes the lights out of everybody in the long run.

Going green means preserving what is left of our environment after the rampage of earth-looters, and the fatalism of the timid. It is also about finding green solutions that are always available.

Coal power is not the solution to the electrical problem. Calculate the ratio of volume of power consumed by malls in the province according to the volume of its customers and you will find that there is simply a lot of wasted space, redundancy in marketing and illusory space filling practices for what might just be a disorganized spread of consumerism beacons.

The lack of alternative to the problem is a testament of defeat of the government to project needs, craft environmentally-sound, economically-wise solutions and regulate excessive and wasteful use of limited power.