Will America's 'Worst Environmental Disaster' Mark a Move Away from Coal?

"This is not the first time that the coal ash containment ponds have breached at the Kingston Fossil plant...But this environmental disaster may be the worst in the country's history and the threats to health and the environment are severe, as the residents are beginning to learn.

[And] there may be good reason for alarm...As reported in the New York Times, December 30, TVA finally revealed an inventory of the Kingston Fossil Plant waste generation in detail : 'In just one year, the plant's byproducts included 45,000 pounds of arsenic, 49,000 pounds of lead, 1.4 million pounds of barium, 91,000 pounds of chromium and 140,000 pounds of manganese. Those metals can cause cancer, liver damage and neurological complications, among other health problems. And the holding pond ... contained many decades' worth of these deposits.'

The coal disaster at Kingston has clued Americans in to the real consequences of coal...many are hoping that the Kingston spill will be the impetus to help Americans commit to the immediate transition away from coal to clean, renewable energy."