Merry Christmas--From the Coal Industry!

Oh coal. What wonderful things don't you give Appalachia?

An estimated 500 million gallons of coal-ash sludge are seeping along the I-40 Knoxville-Nashville corridor in eastern Tennessee, after an earthen wall gave way on Dec. 22 at the TVA Harriman coal-fired plant. While no casualties were reported, the coal-ash spill -- the refuse left over after the plant burns the coal -- should be a terrifying toxic wake-up call about the thousands of coal-fired plants and refuse-pile accidents waiting to happen across the county.

I again state that for all the evil industries in the world (timber and oil, I'm looking at you), coal might be the most diabolical. Destroying our mountains. Changing our climate. Dumping coal ash in our rivers and soil. Awesome.

It'd also be nice if TVA actually cared about these problems or were at all accountable to the public. TVA may be the worst of the New Deal agencies and turning it into a corporation did not help matters.