"CoachCal.com takes you on the first public tour of UK’s brand new, state-of-the-art Wildcat Coal Lodge, which serves as the dormitory for UK’s men’s basketball team in addition to other UK students."
Video Tour of the Wildcat Lodge
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"CoachCal.com takes you on the first public tour of UK’s brand new, state-of-the-art Wildcat Coal Lodge, which serves as the dormitory for UK’s men’s basketball team in addition to other UK students."
Video Tour of the Wildcat Lodge
And I assume the girls soccer team has something just like that? ;) Thanks for showing that to us, really cool!!!
They are working on it. Those that want UK to disassociate itself from coal have agreed to be the primary backers.Quote:
Originally Posted by cattails
If MSHA is allowed to continue what they are doing it won't be long before people in central and western KY understand just how much of their state funding comes from Eastern KY & Coal. Most aren't aware Eastern KY gets a very small portion of the severance tax funds, as you know most goes to fund issues in the remainder of the state. Only the absolute minimum our state legislators are forced to send back here makes it.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheFabFueder
But it won't be long until the rest of the state starts to feel what folks in this area are feeling right now. Oh and those that want UK to disassociate itself from Coal may find it hard to get the money to fund it.
Asking UK to disassociate itself with coal is dumb, but defending that industry is just as ignorant. It's a dinosaur (pun intended) industry that gets too many people killed and causes too many permanent health problems, not to mention the damage to the environment and ecosystem. Coal is a necessary evil, but it's a dying one. I don't want to hear about how many people work in the mines, I know how many do because my brother does and my uncle used to (until a rock fell out of the wall and nearly killed him). But the fact is, there isn't enough money on the planet to put me into a coal mine.
Build a half-dozen nuclear power plants in eastern KY, close the mines and send the miners to run the nuclear sites. Job is safer and easier, and the power is cleaner.
Brock, first I don't understand why you would attack me personally for stating the fact that this entire state will feel the pinch financially if something doesn't change to get the miner's back working.Quote:
Originally Posted by BigBlueBrock
Second, your not the only person whose ever had a family member injured or even killed mining coal. Plus no one denies it's hard and dangerous work, but so is building a Nuclear Power Plant not to mention the possible environmental hazard........and what just one incident at a Nuclear Power Plant can do to the ecosystem is unbelievable. Just Google Chernobyl.........
Third, Brock most of my adult life has been spent outside Eastern KY. I sold my business in Richmond and moved back to Eastern KY to care for aging ailing parents. No Pikeville isn't my first choice of places to live, but I also understand how important coal mining is to the people of Eastern Ky. I have a lot of friends here and what the lack of work is doing and going to do to them is something that breaks my heart. Do you not care what happens to your family or those you grew up with that still reside here?
Most aren't aware of what mining means to the entire state of KY from a financial standpoint. Obviously you aren't aware of what coal severance tax means to the states budget. Very little of the income derived from severance tax stays in Eastern KY, most is used to balance the rest of the states budget and without it our entire state will suffer.
I didn't intend that as a personal attack on you. You're not the only person defending the aging and archaic coal industry, here or otherwise. As for Chernobyl, you cannot - in ANY WAY - compare a Cold War-era Soviet-built nuclear power plant to a modern American plant. To say that the Soviets built everything far below the standards of American industry is an understatement. Modern nuclear power plants in the US practically run themselves. The chances of a Chernobyl-style nuclear disaster at an American plant are so slim they are statistically irrelevant.
Look, I understand what coal means to the people of Eastern KY. But the fact is, arguing for continued reliance on coal just because it keeps people employed is like arguing against the automated loom in the early 19th century. It's pointless. America and the world will, at some point in the near future, move on from burning fossil-fuels for power. The political and financial climate won't allow them to stay alive much longer, and trying to billow air onto the dying fire of coal will ultimately be an exercise in futility.
I'm not saying we should shut every coal plant down tomorrow, stop digging, and send everyone home. But the myopic attitude coal industry backers have about it is harmful in the long term. It's in everyone's interests to figure out what the people of Eastern KY can provide the state and nation going forward because coal won't last another generation.
The Coal Industry will be forced to ship a great deal of it's product over seas, but burning coal in power plants isn't the only way Coal can be used. You probably don't remember due to your age, but Ashland Oil built a plant back in the 70's where they were converting coal to gasoline. It is much cheaper to convert coal to gasoline than it is to buy Middle Eastern Oil, but the Federal Government made them shut it down.Quote:
Originally Posted by BigBlueBrock
Yes the coal industry is a dying business, but many industries are.....not just coal, it's estimated to have at least 50+ years left. Coal has many other uses than just in power plants.
And the sad fact is due to Paul Patton getting himself in trouble the building of interstate 66 was stopped. Until eastern Ky has an artery into and thru it connecting it to the rest of America the people are dependent on the coal industry to survive. Once that project(if ever) is started again there won't be many other industries, so for now it's the only industry available and people must eat.
Coal can be shipped to other countries now for their power needs rather than be shut down due to politics. People must eat and again due to politics right now the only jobs are coal related. That could change and needs to change, I agree, but we also must face reality and whats possible at this moment.
As far as being classified as a myopic backer of the coal industry. No I'm not a myopic backer of the coal industry, I'm a backer of the hard working people who need jobs so they can feed their families. I'm also a resident of this state and at this moment forced to live in eastern Ky. But even when I'm able to move back to central KY I realize how much this state depends on the tax money collected in eastern KY and without it this state is going to have a real hard time balancing any budget my young friend. This state needs the coal industry, plus why leave a natural resource to rot when it can be used for many other things besides the power plants you focus on.
There were more people killed on farm tractors and atv's last year than there was men killed in the mines in the USA. ALL coal fired power plants meet a EPA mandated emission guidelines. Obama has been telling everyone how the power plants cause asthma in children and other problems as well. The same day that Obama made those statements the NHI, National health Institute, came out and said they would like to know where he got his facts because there was no facts that pointed to power plants causing any of those problems. Coal is like any energy source in that it has its problems but nothing like it was even as close to 10 years ago.Quote:
Originally Posted by BigBlueBrock