Intergenerational equity as it relates to conservation and coal-extraction standards

Journal Article · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1982 · Nat. Resour. J.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5513723

O'Toole, R P; Walton, A L

The issue addressed in this paper is whether the US is pursuing conservation and usage of non-renewable fuels (especially coal) in a desirable fashion. One dimension of evaluating advanced systems for extracting coal is their conservation performance. That is, of the total physical stock of coal resources disturbed by an underground mining operation, what proportion is actually extracted. This consideration is especially important for mining on leased Federal land where conservation goals are often explicitly included in the leasing agreement. A second dimension is the value systems employed when choosing a socially desirable rate of resource consumption. Choices based upon efficiency criteria will be very different from those based based upon equity considerations. Each of these facets is examined, followed by a concluding section on how they apply to the narrower issue of whether coal-extraction systems are achieving a socially desirable level of conservation. 6 references, 8 figures.

• Research Organization: California Inst. of Tech., Pasadena, CA
• OSTI ID: 5513723
• Journal Information: Nat. Resour. J.; (United States), Journal Name: Nat. Resour. J.; (United States) Vol. 22:1; ISSN NRJOA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
012000 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Mining
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290400* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Energy Resources
530000 -- Environmental-Social Aspects of Energy Technologies-- (-1989)
COAL MINING
DECISION MAKING
MINING
RESOURCE CONSERVATION
RESOURCE DEPLETION
VALUES