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WORLD NEWS Thursday 20 december 2018

Sinking Greek village highlights nation's addiction to coal

By COSTAS KANTOURIS Greek government to re-
Associated Press verse its course and switch
PTOLEMAIDA, Greece (AP) investments to the renew-
— If earthquakes struck able sources like solar and
in slow motion, the results wind power.
might be visible in a place "We must act directly to
like the Greek village of An- reduce greenhouse gas
argyri, a hardscrabble en- emissions, but our country is
clave in a black landscape moving in the opposite di-
gutted by coal mining. rection," a letter addressed
The village in northern to Prime Minister Alexis Tsip-
Greece once had more ras said. It was signed by
than 400 people. Now it has 34 environmental and hu-
fewer than 50, after being man rights groups, includ-
torn apart over decades. ing Greenpeace, the World
Its roads are slowly buck- Wide Fund for Nature, Am-
ling, its door frames have nesty International and
shifted, its walls and home Doctors Without Borders.
foundations have cracked Greece is planning to invest
beyond repair. Residents "in fossil fuels for decades,
are leaving not in panic but along with worrying deliv-
out of desperation. ery of hundreds of thou-
One after another, the tiny sands of square kilometers,
villages in Greece's lignite on and offshore, for hy-
belt have been destroyed drocarbon extraction," the
by mining as the ground letter said. "This would sur-
becomes too unsteady to render the country to the
hold homes upright. Bells at nightmare consequences
one church in the area are In this Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018, signs close a damaged landslide road in the village of Anargyri of climate change."
not rung regularly for fear near the town of Amynatio, northern Greece. In Anargyri, despite the de-
of causing more cracks in Associated Press struction of their homes, res-
the walls. idents have mixed feelings
Cattle farmer Michalis Bitas Heavy-duty coal excava- nite is a low-grade coal that Under measures ham- about coal, since PPC is a
first noticed the damage to tors and vehicles on the ho- throws off higher carbon di- mered out with Greece's key employer that provides
homes in Anargyri in 1986. rizon near the village look oxide emissions than black bailout creditors, the state- 5,000 local jobs. The other
"That's when mining started like toy trucks, dwarfed by coal. It is often burned near controlled power compa- attraction is that lignite,
locally. It slowly began to the scale of the blackened where it is mined since its ny, PPC, will privatize three mined domestically, is not
eat up the houses before it mining fields. low energy density makes it coal-fired electricity plants, vulnerable to financial mar-
went on to eat us up too," Greek is still hooked on coal, too expensive to transport prolonging their life. ket swings or geopolitical
he said. despite warnings about the very far. Also, contrary to many of shocks, unlike imported oil
Bitas is from one of the few dire consequences of glob- Nearly a third of Greece's its EU neighbors, Greece and gas, which in Greece
dozen households in the al warming issued both by electricity is produced by is on course to expand its mostly comes from Russia.
village who have refused a new scientific report and coal-fired plants and the dependence on oil and "Clearly, lignite activity will
a power company's offer experts at the recent U.N. country has no phase-out gas as the nation tries to at- be reduced and will be re-
to move them to a rented climate talks in Poland and plan to stop using domes- tract overseas investment placed by other sources of
apartment in a nearby despite ambitious Europe- tically produced coal, un- to counter a financial cri- energy, renewable sources
town. These villagers are an Union-wide targets to like most parts of Western sis that lasted nearly a de- of energy," PPC executive
demanding full compen- replace coal use with re- Europe. Despite abundant cade. The Greek govern- Konstantinos Theodoridis
sation for their homes — a newable energy. wind and sun, only around ment has embarked on a told The Associated Press.
right only granted by law if Greece is currently the 15 percent of Greece's major exploration drive for "But lignite will continue to
mining occurs directly be- world's 12th largest pro- energy is produced by re- oil and gas off its western be a strategic fuel that, in
low a settlement. ducer of lignite — known newable sources. Most of and southern coasts. any geopolitical instability,
"I have sheep and machin- as brown coal — mining 36 its reduction in coal use in The oil and gas ventures is the only energy-produc-
ery. What am I supposed million tons annually, ac- recent years has been off- have alarmed environmen- ing fuel that is absolutely
to do? Move them into an cording to U.S. federal gov- set by an increased use of tal groups, which have is- controlled by our country,"
apartment?" Bitas said. ernment energy data. Lig- imported natural gas. sued an urgent plea to the he said.q