The human cost of coal mining in China | Xiaojun "Tom" Wang

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4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 29 March 2024

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Xiaojun "Tom" Wang grew up in the Chinese province of Shanxi, the world's largest coal producer. Each year, more than a billion tons of coal are dug out of Shanxi's mountains, and the impacts are devastating — from massive landslides to damaged cultural sites and threats to human health. Wang illuminates the need for sustainable alternatives to protect the environment and ancestral homes, underscoring the rich heritage and untapped potential of provinces like his own.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ted Audio Collective.
0:02.0	Audio Collective.
0:04.0	I'm Elise Hugh, you're listening to Ted Talks Daily.
0:12.0	China needs energy and has yet to break its reliance on coal.
0:17.0	Environmental activist Shaq Jouin Wong grew up in a mining village and has dedicated his life to helping communities combat coal addiction.
0:25.7	In his talk from the TED Countdown Summit in 2023, Wong shares ways to move away from coal
0:31.4	without leaving those in mining villages behind.
0:35.0	After a break.
0:37.0	Like TED Talks, you should check out the TED Radio Hour with NPR.
0:42.8	Stay tuned after this talk to hear a sneak peek of this week's episode.
0:48.7	So in early April this year, I went back to my hometown,
0:55.0	Lulyang, in Central China's Shenzi province.
0:58.8	For the Tomb Swipping Day.
1:00.5	The Tomb Swipping Day, literally, it is a day when we go and clean the tombs of our deceased beloved ones.
1:09.0	It is also a day when we go and ask for blessings from our ancestors.
1:15.9	And this year, my sister became a new grandmother
1:19.1	and she wanted to ask for blessings from our father
1:22.3	for her new grandson.
1:24.9	We had a hard time binding our father's tomb.
1:30.9	The roads leading into our village had white cracks,
1:35.0	with signs telling people to stay away and beware of landslides.
1:40.0	Landslides, in my usually dry dry hometown used to be just a rare natural disasters.
	...

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