Policy Solutions: Reports & Issue Papers

All Reports & Issue Papers Tagged coal

Slower, Costlier and Dirtier
A Critique of the Bush Energy Plan

Report

This May 2001 NRDC report is an extensive analysis of the Bush administration energy plan that was released on May 17. NRDC's energy experts found it heavily biased in favor of the most polluting fossil fuels -- coal and oil -- at the expense of the environment and public health. Furthermore, the plan would have no impact on energy prices, and no practical effect on U.S. dependence on foreign sources of oil. The fact is that the United States can meet its energy needs without undermining environmental safeguards or ruining the last remaining pristine wilderness areas in the country.

Drawdown: Groundwater Mining on Black Mesa

Report

For more than 40 years, Peabody Western Coal Company has been draining billions of gallons of potable, pristine groundwater from an aquifer under the Black Mesa plateau in Arizona -- water that serves as the primary source of drinking water for the area’s Hopi and Navajo residents. In 2000, NRDC published an assessment of the damage caused by this groundwater mining and determined that the Navajo aquifer showed signs of serious decline after years of pumping by Peabody. This 2006 update to the original report concludes that material damage is still present in Black Mesa and that the aquifer shows signs of continuing damage and deterioration. NRDC also considers the role of the federal government in addressing the damage and recommends actions that would help conserve Black Mesa's water supply.