PA Lawmaker Proposes Coal, Climate Change's Prime Mover, As State Rock

CARBON COUNTY, PA — A state representative from the county named for the compound that helped build the state, but which is now warming the world, will soon introduce new legislation that would honor it.

The proposal would make anthracite coal, also known as a hard coal, the official state rock of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania currently has no state rock.

"State symbols are important in helping us better understand what makes Pennsylvania unique," State Rep. Doyle Heffley, who represents Carbon County's 122nd legislative district, wrote in a co-sponsorship memorandum. "Each symbol connected with Pennsylvania has historical significance or recognizes a native species or product of great meaning to the economy of Pennsylvania."

The environmental fallout of that historical significance, however, is lasting generations. Anthracite emits the largest amount of carbon dioxide per million British thermal units (btu's), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Nowhere in the world is there more anthracite than northeastern Pennsylvania, and the state's contributions to global carbon emissions are enormous.

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Aside from the lengthy screeds written already in coal's global ledger, the consequences of abandoned mines are felt in daily Pennsylvania life. The state has more abandoned coal mines than anywhere in the nation, and impacts range from pollution of drinking water and streams to sinkholes, according to WITF.

While Heffley's legislation does not neccessarily take a "side" on coal's heritage, what's implicit in a formal designation of a state symbol is a type of deference or honor that typically lacks this sort of charged moral nuance.

The state animal, for instance, is a white-tailed deer. The state fish is a brook trout. The state bird is a ruffed grouse. Each have had enormous, largely sustainable positive impacts both economically and environmentally.

Heffley said the designation of anthracite as the state rock was suggested to him by a constituent. Similar bills have been introduced in the past but were not advanced by the legislature.