The Importance Of Coal In West Virginia

As of January 1st, 2016, there are over 18.3 billion short tons of coal left in the United States. Coal is found in fifty-three of fifty-five counties in the state of West Virginia, and it leads the country in coal production. It does have a negative effect on the environment, it is a major source of air pollution, but overall coal is important to the country. As an energy source we depend on, without the mining of coal the country would have an energy problem. We use coal for heat, transportation, and electricity. Coal mining is also a major part of West Virginia's history and heritage.

Many people wonder why is coal important and what is it used for? Coal is used for several different things. After the civil war coal became the nation’s number

It is used for transportation such as steam ships, but more popular steam locomotives. Steam locomotives were an important part in the building of this country. They linked the west to the east coast, and north to south. So if you think about it, coal helped build this country. Not only was it useful to America but coal was also very important in England. Railroads run all over, and is one of their main modes of transportation to this day. Many people relied on trains to get them where they were going, and without the power created by steam, there would be no train. Besides locomotives, steam also powered ships. For instance the Titanic was powered by coal which was burned to create steam to run the ships propellers. Steam also powered many other large and small ships throughout the years. Because of steam ships people were able to

West Virginia leads the nation in coal production, coal can be found in 53 of 55 counties. There are many different types of methods that are used in the process of mining for coal in the state, and all over the country. These are surface mining, which is also known as strip mining. This is when there is coal just below the surface of the ground and the easiest way to access it is to wipe, or cut off the surface. This almost always has a negative affect on the environment. For example in the southern part of the state there are almost no mountains left because most of them have been destroyed for the small amount of coal that they can collect beneath the surface. Because of how this destroys the land many people are against it. The other type of mining is underground mining. This has less of an impact on the land but is more dangerous. Underground mining is when a tunnel is dug into the side of a mountain and people go inside to mine for the coal. It can be more dangerous because such things can happen as a cave in, or the mine could collapse and miners could be trapped inside. From going into the mine everyday miners can get diseases such as black lung, which can cause death. But the west Virginian mining industry is important to the economy and the well-being the mountain