Logan Walls
Dr. Cohenour
9/24/2012
The Cost of Mother Nature
West Virginia has a number of different natural energy resources that can be utilized. There is coal, which is a nonrenewable energy resource because there is a limited amount of supply. Then there is wind and hydropower, which are considered renewable energy resources; because there is an infinite amount of supply. The city council may want to take into consideration these two renewable energy sources for the many different advantages each source has to offer. West Virginia has an abundance of natural energy resources such as coal, wind, and hydropower; all of these energy resources could generate electricity and stabilize the community’s economy in various ways, including the different types of facilities, cost, and production output.
West Virginia coalmines are amongst the top in the country for coal production. A 2009 study showed that five states in America produced close to three quarters of all the coal in the entire country, and West Virginia was number two on the list. Coal is used to generate electricity, heat, and for industrial uses. In the 2009 study, over ninety percent of the coal was used to generate electricity, a little over six percent was used in the industry, and less than one percent was used to generate heat (“Coal” 18). West Virginia mines a large portion of the countries coal every year and in order to keep up the high demand, most of the state workforce is employed by the coalmines.
The West Virginia coalmines are the economic backbone for the state. There are a couple of key elements that make the coal mines so prosperous. First, West Virginia is sitting on billions of mineable tons of coal (“Coal” 18). Next, only a rudimentary amount of education is required to work in the mines. West Virginia may have one of the strongest economies in the current recession