Coal: Useful, But Harmful Coal: Useful, But Harmful By Emma LinGrade 5 Imagine if we had a world without coal. Wouldn’t that be amazing? We would be free of smoke and other unhealthy things. Some people believe coal is the best option because it is cheaper and plentiful. However, coal is dangerous and a pollutant. Our town should stop using coal because it is a nonrenewable resource; it contributes to acid rain and helps air pollution. To begin with, we should stop using coal because it contributes to acid rain. When we use coal, bits of it go into the air, causing the rain to become poisoned. The rain can kill plants that are supposed to be thriving. If we stopped using coal, we would become healthier while benefiting the plants because they would become healthier at the same time. Acid rain also makes our precious plants shrivel up and die. We want the opposite to happen. It also damages the animals. We have enough fossil fuels, and we need no more. If we continue using coal, it will damage our Earth even more. Furthermore, we should stop using coal because it damages our environment. Bits of coal particles are released into the air. Since workers release the coal into the air, we breathe in the coal. Some of the coal mines don’t damage our environment, but that certainly does not mean all. “Some surface mines remove entire mountaintops and deposit the extra material into the valleys. This drastically changes the landscape. Surface mines also release a small amount of methane. This greenhouse gas is bad for the environment.” It means that very few mines don’t damage our environment. It also means that the people who did the work dump leftover materials into valleys. It contains methane, which is dangerous to the environment. Finally, we should stop using coal because it isn’t a renewable resource. Unlike the wind, coal can run out, and easily. The coal we have today formed over millions of years ago, so if we run out, it would mean that we won’t have any more coal. Since coal isn’t renewable, that makes collecting more coal hard because it is a fossil fuel and has a limited amount of it. The coal we have today can only last for another one hundred to three hundred years. But based on how much coal we’re using right now, we might run out of coal before it even reaches three hundred years! To sum up, coal is a harmful but useful resource. It creates an extra dangerous place on our planet, so we should stop using it. First, it harms our environment. Second, it is not a renewable resource. Finally, it contributes to acid rain. That is why coal is such a harmful resource, and we should stop using it. What would you do if you had to decide whether or not to use coal? Would you stop using it although it would cost so much more, or would you keep using it only because it is cheap?
