Carbon Democracy Timothy Mitchell Analysis

The use of coal which is most common today started in the 700’s CE and it is the use of coal as an energy source. Though not officially used as a heat source until the 1100’s CE, many methods of burning it for protective smoke were used. While the use of coal for heat was cheaper than wood, the side effects of it shortly began to show. As the mass used of coal came to be, the price of it rose sharply as up to ½ of lower class family wages were used only for the minimal amount of coal needed to survive harsh cold months. London also grew dependent on coal and many signs were showing just why this statement was true. The coal smoke smudged the city and thick black clouds could be seen from miles away surrounding London. These plus other negative effects of coal explains how the misuse of coal led to more negative occurrences than positive and beneficial use it gave.

The case study points out some of the deficiencies mentioned by Wilson in his article, specifically how political appointments lead to a weak administrative system and the tendency to corrupt the individual. Also due to the coal industry being so entwined with the state politics, the industry’s need for monetary gain came before the workers’ need for safety. Had there been a clear separation of politics and administration, it is feasible to believe that the incident at the mine could have been

A documentary called "From the Ashes" speaks about the employees, and communities that are supported by coal mines. In the documentary the director of Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign, Mary Anne Hitt, goes on to describe a "life and death struggle" when mine layoffs occur. This means that the employees will lose their pensions, healthcare, and basically their livelihood. It was believed that the increase of miner layoffs was due to environmental regulations, but that was proven incorrect by the US Energy and Information Administration. One of the leading causes is the increased use of natural gases, and a statistical analysis over a 6 year time period proves that when natural gas usage increases, then coal usage

6) Are there any protests, citizen groups or non-profits actively working to question the policies and practices of coal in society?

As Australia’s energy demands rise along with a rising population it is likely that fossil fuel consumption will also rise despite concerns about climate change. This energy demand as well as government debt has seen the start of hydraulic fracturing in Queensland. The development of coal seam gas is to create thousands of jobs while providing a boost to the state’s economy. Many Australian landowners are allowing the fracking on their properties because they will receive income from the well (De Rijke 2013). The decision of the government to commence fracking has been opposed by the wider public. Local governments are virtually powerless to stop fracking as this power lies with the Australian state and

When I go to my home where I grew up it is all electrical produced and the main producer of that electricity is from coal a fossil fuel. In that area coal is one of the primary exports of that area. (Administration,

Protagonists concur that the process of fracking is commonly short-lived, and after it is completed, oil and gas production have the ability to last up to 40 years. Once the process is completed, the site on which hydraulic fracturing is conducted on is restored and refurbished to its former state, and its environmental advantages, such as lowering greenhouse gas emissions and condensing air, persist for decades (“What Is Shale Gas?” 2). Shale gas, which is a natural gas extracted from shale, is obtained through fracking as well (“What Is Shale Gas?” 1). The EIA reports that over 750 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable shale gas and 24 billion barrels of technically recoverable shale oil resources in discovered shale plays (“What Is Shale Gas?” 1). The key to developing these key resources, which fuel our economy and provide employment opportunity, is through fracking. When skeptical citizens and authority express concern over fracking, protagonists assure their challengers that fracking will always be done responsibly, and they will continue to develop

Though humanity still has developed industrial systems, there have been laws and social norms put in place to protect the environment. Odum discusses fuel-powered systems in industrial areas, “they require so much energy and create so much waste heat and pollution, that they have an enormous impact on the other two environments.” In 1993, this was true since the primary use of energy was coal, oil, natural gas, all carbon emitting energy sources. However, countries like China, Germany, the United States have reduced the emission coming from these fuel-powered systems in the past 25 years. There are now other options for environmentally clean power, people are recycling their trash, using less water, and cutting back energy usage.

The transition of power that is currently happening in American politics has brought an air of uncertainty, especially with regard to the environment. Specifically, an issue that has recently gained attention has been hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. In simple terms, fracking is a procedure where the ground is drilled with water and chemicals in order to obtain natural gas or oil. Fracking is the most important public health issue at this time because the change in power is bound to create more leniency on big business, especially those involved with gas and oil (Garber, 2017). The procedure has been controversial because on one end, people argue that fracking will make the United States energy self-dependent, will create jobs, and will be

With this struggle between the interest of society against a business and by extension the state, a Polanyian analysis would consequently reveal the underlying factors that explain the persistence of the overriding interest of capitalism. To begin, Polanyi states that “the commodification of land, labour and money poses a moral threat to nature, human beings, and business respectively, inevitable generating grievances, resistance and the ensuing imperative of protection”. It is consequently unsurprising that fracking unfolds a discourse regarding the commodification of land and water for profit, and arguably a threat to not just nature and human beings, but the health and survival of the planet and its resources overall, given the precarious relationship between Earth’s climate and the energy industry. Moreover, the basis of Polanyian theory lies in the assumption that the state

Around 1938, George Orwell stated that mining of coal was the metabolism of civilization in western countries. What this metaphor by Orwell meant was that coal was the major catalyst of the early industrial revolution, the same way enzymes act as catalysts in the body of animals. Were he to be alive today, he would have been happy and could have reformulated his insightful observation. For it should be noted that modern mining, that is, the extraction of coal, rich minerals, gas and oil is the alchemic catalyst that is driving the 21st century metabolism of the economic globalization. However, the effects and consequences of modern extraction usually take on grim symbolism as compared to the mentioned chemical metaphor. This is due to the

Coal power is the cheapest fuel to power the ever growing population with Australian mining industry still putting in billions of dollars into a vast amount of coal projects never the less coal power is a fossil fuel, a fuel which takes hundreds of year to form so the future of coal is undetermined. Coal is a reliable power source but one of the many concern with coal is the mining process used to remove it from the ground. Ecological effects are developing worries for the industry, with the carbon emissions possibly contributing to global warming.

In February 2011, the Australian federal government declared a scheme to implement a Carbon Tax from July 1, 2012. Implementing this scheme has generated a controversial debate between Australians. The term “Carbon tax” refers to an environmental tax forcing polluters to pay per ton of carbon which they release into the atmosphere. This essay will provide the economical, social and political implication of carbon taxes, also with its introduction who will benefit and who would suffer.

However there was a strong counter argument advanced by the miners union and the other analysts. They suggested that with a proper investment programme backed by a genuine government commitment to coal as a long term power source, large parts of the British coal industry still had a profitable future. The social consequences of widespread pit closures would be catastrophic.

Should the U.S federal government adopt a carbon tax to decrease c02 emissions of public and private franchises.