From the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy website as closing comments on the sludge flood, and forwarded to the editor by WVHC director, Bob Gates:
SACE encourages people learning about this disaster to understand the connection between energy consumption and where power comes from. The process of resourcing coal for energy to meet the power demand of consumers in the SE takes an enormous toll on the environment.
The land lost to mining for coal, storing the waste both pre- and post-combustion, the air pollution resulting from burning coal, and all the other impacts from transportation and processing leave the coal industry with a huge environmental footprint. Next time you flip that lightswitch, think about where the power is coming from... and how you can change your energy habits to tread lighter on the environment.