I’ve been pondering a change in my work lately as I think being a coal miner is not in line with the Buddha’s teachings. The only benefit I can think of is I’m helping to supply electricity to developing countries, but at the same time I’m adding to the decline of the planet as a whole.
Not to mention the unwholesome mind states that arise from working night shift.
Can you all illuminate some other reasons for me to act on leaving the occupation.
Thank you
I spend a great deal of my time researching the energy markets including green energy. I am not opposed to green energy and in the process of putting a substantial amount into copper mines. But until we come up with an economic and recyclable battery that has a long life it can't replace baseload power. Therefore i also invest in coal miners, natural gas, and oil. Due to cheap reliable energy the world has gone from millions to billions on the planet living much better than before.
There is a really deep sense of morality and empathy in this post by artisticwatching. To care for the planet, and to be willing to make the necessary effort even when it might not be trivial on a personal level speaks to me as an aspiring public administrator. At the same time, energy produced from burning coal is ensuring basic minimum quality of life for millions in countries like India where I come from.
While we are searching for reliable alternative (we need more funds and political will there, no question about it), it is also important to make sure people around the globe are not starving, freezing, have living wage and a shot at reducing some of the misery that being at the rock bottom economically brings. Coal based electricity has enabled a lot of it in country like india, where still 10s of millions do not have reliable source of energy. apart from using nuclear energy, which has it's own set of problems attached with it, currently, hardly any country is in a state to completely shut down on coal.
Thus I would say that despite your decision on a personal level to continue or transition into a better source of livelihood, I would say that overall outlook on being a coal miner is not necessarily one that is detrimental to society at large (unless we find reliable cleaner alternatives)
while we are talking about the degradation of the environment on this thread, I would also like to mention the harm that meat industry causes. methane released from cattle reared to be butchered is equivalently harmful vis-a-vis global warming to all the vehicles in the world. the amount of water resources it takes to produce an ounce of meat is in thousands of litres of water, considering the whole supply chain. not to mention the steroids and anti-bodies injected into the cattle to increase milk yield in dairy industries. this increases chance of anti-body resistance resistant bacteria or superbugs which can be even more devastating than the current pandemic.
Anyways I think reduction in meat consumption is something which is easier to do by individual lifestyle change compared to finding reliable clean source of energy for the world in the short term. and If one is so inclined to save the earth, this too might be a good way to contribute.
