A National Coal Council meeting in downtown St. Louis was canceled following a protest from Washington University Green Action.
Directly after council members had finished taking roll call on Tuesday, students from Green Action and Missourians Organized for Reform and Empowerment entered the meeting at the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark. The students unfurled a banner proclaiming, “Coal is never clean” and sang, “Clean coal is a dirty lie.”
“Clean coal doesn’t exist, and we’re opposed to the lie that there’s any way to use coal safely without hurting communities,” said Green Action member Harry Alper, a senior.
Yes, it happened in coal country. The clean energy movement is being lead by the young and the corporate press is missing the story.
I realize that part of the problem with press coverage of energy and climate change results from the influence and advertising dollars of the fossil fuel industry. But, I think part of it is also an age issue. The best stories I see about the problems of coal are usually by reporters in their 20's. Most others ignore the issue or write from an industry perspective.
I suspect that many news editors and pundits don't recognize the significance of the growing movement around climate change because they're viewing issues from an outdated perspective. In Springfield, for example, our daily paper is ignoring clean energy issues in their city election coverage despite all that's happening with our public utility. They're far more focused on their old grudge against former CWLP manager Todd Renfrow. They ask candidates inane questions about management rather than discussing energy efficiency projects and investment in renewables.
Frankly, the same thing happens within the environmental movement. It's understandable that people continue to work on the same important issue they began working on 20 years ago. But, it's frustrating to see the lack of passion about fighting a problem that's the biggest threat to humanity since the invention of the atomic bomb. Nothing else we're facing has the potential to cause so much destruction to human life and prosperity.
Of course there are exceptions. People of all ages are leading the clean energy movement. But the greatest hope of that movement comes from the passion and aggressive action of today's rising generation who see this as the great challenge of our time. That's why the story from Wash U is so encouraging.