A group of idealistic young whippersnappers marched in Columbia to protest the campus’ use — and, by extension, the entire state’s use — of coal as an energy source. I have to wonder whether these students have any idea what the economic effects would be if Missouri, or the rest of the country, just abandoned coal use overnight.
Coal miners have it pretty tough already, but I don’t think putting tens of thousands of them out of work is going to help them or their families much. I am also willing to bet that these exact same students would be leading the protests over higher tuition if Mizzou itself (somehow) suddenly went cold turkey on coal power and started using more expensive options. Finally, I’ll rescind these comments if I find out the protesting students were advocating that Mizzou should use nuclear power instead — but somehow I doubt that anything other than thousands of windmills and solar panels would satisfy them.
Thanks to Combest for the catch.
