Environmentgreen EnergyClimate Change

'Coal Train Blues' Needs To Win A Grammy ASAP (VIDEO)

WATCH: The Only Thing Worse Than The 'Folsom Prison Blues'...
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Well, replacing the lyrics from a famous song with coal-related facts is one heck of a way to spread environmental awareness, especially if it's to the heel-tapping, feel-good hit, "Folsom Prison Blues."

Portland-based Johnny Cash tribute band, Counterfeit Cash, has so cleverly performed "Coal Train Blues" that it's bound to get stuck in your head and spread as fast as -- eh, coal dust.

Though catchy, Counterfeit Cash's new hit is no heel-tapping, feel-good song after all. Companies are seeking to transport coal from Montana and Wyoming's Powder River Basin through the Columbia River Gorge -- an 85-mile long river canyon in Oregon and Washington -- for eventual export to Asia. U.S. coal exports would double under this plan, with 25 coal trains passing through the Gorge every day and barge traffic doubling, according to Friends of the Columbia Gorge. The resulting coal dust and diesel emissions pose a tremendous threat to the Gorge's air and water quality, natural habitat and human health, critics warn.

(h/t Grist)

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Before You Go

'War On Coal' Rhetoric
(01 of08)
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In a Saturday Oct. 13, 2012 photo, Amanda McCracken, of Big Stone Gap, stands with her children, Kaylee, 6, and Pryston, 8, at Saturday's United for Coal demonstration in support of her husband and their father, who is a coal miner. Only a few generations ago, coal miners were literally at war with their employers, spilling and shedding blood on West Virginia's Blair Mountain in a historic battle for union representation and fair treatment. Today, their descendants are allies in a carefully choreographed rhetorical war playing out across eastern Kentucky, southwestern Virginia and all of West Virginia. It's fueled by a single, unrelenting message that they now face a common enemy _ the federal government _ that has decided that coal is no longer king, or even noble. (AP Photo/Bristol Herald Courier, Allie Robinson) (credit:AP)
(02 of08)
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In this April 2010 photo, miners watch as a piece of equipment passes by in the Tech Leasing and Rebuild Inc. Mine #1 in Buchanan County, Va. Once, coal miners were literally at war with their employers. Today, their descendants are allies in a rhetorical war playing out across eastern Kentucky, southwestern Virginia and all of West Virginia. The message: They now face a common enemy - the federal government, especially the president and the Environmental Protection Agency. The war on coal is a sound bite and a headline, perpetuated by pundits, power companies and public relations consultants who have crafted a neat label for a complex set of realities, one that compels people to choose sides. (AP Photo/Bristol Herald Courier, David Crigger) (credit:AP)
(03 of08)
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In a Saturday Oct. 13, 2012 photo, hundreds congregated along U.S. 23 from Big Stone Gap to Pound and into Kentucky in support of coal miners and the mining industry. Only a few generations ago, coal miners were literally at war with their employers, spilling and shedding blood on West Virginia's Blair Mountain in a historic battle for union representation and fair treatment. Today, their descendants are allies in a carefully choreographed rhetorical war playing out across eastern Kentucky, southwestern Virginia and all of West Virginia. It's fueled by a single, unrelenting message that they now face a common enemy, the federal government, that has decided that coal is no longer king, or even noble. (AP Photo/Bristol Herald Courier, Allie Robinson) (credit:AP)
(04 of08)
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Republican candidates are using the idea of a "war on coal" in their campaigns this year, as in this sign that targets incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin in Morgantown, W.Va., on Oct. 16, 2012. Once, coal miners were literally at war with their employers. Today, their descendants are allies in a rhetorical war playing out across eastern Kentucky, southwestern Virginia and all of West Virginia. The message: They now face a common enemy, the federal government, especially the president and the Environmental Protection Agency.(AP Photo/Vicki Smith) (credit:AP)
(05 of08)
Open Image Modal
In this April 2010 photo, a coal miner drives a scoop while working in the Tech Leasing and Rebuild Inc. Mine #1 in Buchanan County, Va. Once, coal miners were literally at war with their employers. Today, their descendants are allies in a rhetorical war playing out across eastern Kentucky, southwestern Virginia and all of West Virginia. The message: They now face a common enemy - the federal government, especially the president and the Environmental Protection Agency. The war on coal is a sound bite and a headline, perpetuated by pundits, power companies and public relations consultants who have crafted a neat label for a complex set of realities, one that compels people to choose sides. (AP Photo/Bristol Herald Courier, David Crigger) (credit:AP)
(06 of08)
Open Image Modal
In this Saturday Oct. 13, 2012 photo, a man speaks to the crowd at a United for Coal event in Pikeville, Ky. Once, coal miners were literally at war with their employers. Today, their descendants are allies in a rhetorical war playing out across eastern Kentucky, southwestern Virginia and all of West Virginia. The message: They now face a common enemy - the federal government, especially the president and the Environmental Protection Agency. The war on coal is a sound bite and a headline, perpetuated by pundits, power companies and public relations consultants who have crafted a neat label for a complex set of realities, one that compels people to choose sides. (AP Photo/Appalachian News-Express, Elizabeth Thompson) (credit:AP)
(07 of08)
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A truck passes a political sign in a yard in Dellslow, W.Va., on Oct. 16, 2012. Rhetoric about the administration's alleged "war on coal" has come to dominate conversation this campaign season. Once, coal miners were literally at war with their employers. Today, their descendants are allies in a rhetorical war playing out across eastern Kentucky, southwestern Virginia and all of West Virginia. The message: They now face a common enemy _ the federal government, especially the president and the Environmental Protection Agency. (AP Photo/Vicki Smith) (credit:AP)
(08 of08)
Open Image Modal
In a Saturday Oct. 13, 2012 photo, hundreds of supporters signed the American Energy Alliance bus, which has for the past two months traveled around the country, during a United for Coal Rally in Southwest Va. Only a few generations ago, coal miners were literally at war with their employers, spilling and shedding blood on West Virginia's Blair Mountain in a historic battle for union representation and fair treatment. Today, their descendants are allies in a carefully choreographed rhetorical war playing out across eastern Kentucky, southwestern Virginia and all of West Virginia. It's fueled by a single, unrelenting message that they now face a common enemy _ the federal government _ that has decided that coal is no longer king, or even noble. (AP Photo/Bristol Herald Courier, Allie Robinson) (credit:AP)
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