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Just wanted to give a heads up on something that is related to a big part of my thesis.  The new scrubber installations at AEP plants will do what the AP article at http://www.redorbit.com/news/business/1402498/scrubbers_to_clean_john_amos_emissions/ says, it will shift state demand for coal from southern counties to northern ones.  Over the past two years the number of northern strip-mines has declined, but the amount of production and # of employees per mine have increased, suggestion an expansion in size of northern strip-mines.  So if you know of anyone up there living near coal seams, might wanna give them a heads up about this as it will surely cause an increase in stripping and MTR up there.  Not to mention the other consequences coming from scrubber installation/operation and disposal of the by-products, which surely will be more than the "harmless gypsum" that this article suggests.

Of course, the shift isnt going to reduce MTR in the southern counties all that much, if at all.  Only about 22% of coal produced in WV is burned in WV, and obiously much of that is from southern counties, so in my estimate, this will result in no more than a 5% shift of MTR production to northern mines, or about 2.5 million tons.  Of course, that is significant in one major sense.  2.5 million tons approximates the annual production of a medium size MTR mine if I'm not mistaken.  So, one mountain saved given current consumption and export conditions.

Those were rough calc's, dont quote me on those.  if the coal is to be produced, its better that production is spread evenly across the state.  the point is still to reduce the consumption of coal and get an outright ban on MTR.  I've pasted the supporting quote for all of this below. -- Rory

Shifting Coal Demand

Another outcome of the national push to scrub is a shift in demand from more expensive, lower sulfur central Appalachian coal to less expensive, higher sulfur northern Appalachian coal - or, in West Virginia, from southern to northern coal.

Amos's scrubbers will go into operation during the coming two years: unit 3, the largest, in January 2009, unit 2 the following spring and unit 1 in spring 2010.

The plant currently burns up to 8 million tons of coal a year, most of it from Boone County. Once the scrubbers are up and running, AEP will have the option of shifting to a less expensive coal.

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"Animals suffer and their screams fill the air. Forests are being destroyed. Mountains are ripped open for the metals streaming in their veins. And man cherishes and celebrates those who do the greatest of damage to nature and humanity."

- Leonardo Da Vinci (1500)