God Was Wrong, Support Mountaintop Removal

Burns, Shirley Stewart. Bringing Down the Mountains: The Impact of Mountaintop Removal Surface Coal Mining on Southern West Virginia Communities, 1970-2004. Morgantown: West Virginia University Press, 2007. Print.

The Appalachians span over a distance of 1,600 miles, ranging across 14 states, from Newfoundland in the North, to Alabama in the South. The Appalachians are the oldest chain of mountains on the North American continent. With forest, comes forest fires, some natural and some prescribed by humans. In order to reduce the calamitous damage caused by natural wildfires, the technique of prescribed fires is used. This is done by diminishing the amounts of trees, shrubs, and brush in the intended area. By doing this, new native plant growth is encouraged and it helps maintain some plant and animal species that depend on the periodic fires. With this man made force comes numerous effects on vegetation, wildlife, and the human impact.

Many companies have made money from the coal industry; however, the money has not stayed within the state. Big businesses have exploited the resources creating rich executives and leaving the Appalachian area stripped of its bounty. Currently, big businesses are involved in mountain-top removal to remove resources from our mountains. This leaves many of the beautiful mountains destroyed, pollutes the water systems and kills the wildlife and vegetation. The coal industry which once supported many families in the Appalachian area is now becoming the downfall of our tourist

Are you for coal or against coal? Maybe better yet, are you for the preservation of the mountains and nature or are you against it? These questions held such a deep meaning and understanding that on the surface seemed immaterial to large corporations such as the Coal Mining Industry or political leaders within the State of West Virginia. Combating Mountaintop Removal by Bryan McNeil gives us the views of what it looks like from a grassroots environmental activist within the West Virginia coal country. In the book you see how the social and moral arguments are framed from different agents such as the Ant-MTRM (Mountain top removal) organization, the Coal Miners and Union works, to the Coal Mining Companies, and finally the State through political

Appalachia has long been regarded as a place of natural beauty and allegedly 'backwards' people. In one of the early attempts to 'civilize' rural Appalachia, the population was characterized as consisting of "agricultural savages" who refused to learn better farming practices (Anglin 2002: 565). "The poverty and environmental abuse I witnessed there were not simply a failure of economics. It went much deeper than that; hence our continual failure to 'social engineer' meaningful changes there. It was a poverty of the spirit; a poverty of the soul" said one observer, of the attempt to encourage rural Appalachians to adopt modern farming practices at the turn of the 20th century (Anglin 2002: 565-566). Other than subsistence farming, the only other predominant industry in rural Appalachia is the coal industry. Rather than provide a potential source of enrichment to the region, this too has been seen as impoverishing, rather than sustaining the residents. "Appalachia has become virtually synonymous with coal and problems of the notoriously dangerous, cyclically unstable, and highly competitive industry" (Pudup 1990: 61).

The citizens in Central Appalachia are amongst the poorest in the country even thought they live in an area that is environmentally diverse and full of natural resources such as coal, timber and agriculture. The author of the book looks at the coal history of her hometown West Virginia and examines the impact of mining and mountain top removal has had on the region. Appalachia’s poverty rate is twice as high as any other region in United States. The regions are primarily country and the people are largely white with majority of the locals having roots that have been tied to the lands for generations. Burns talks about how one of the biggest issues facing the area and the main reason why all the money being made is not going to the people of the land for all these years is coal.

The author identified two Appalachian crisis in this article. First, the author mentioned that many people in Appalachia places like eastern Kentucky lost nearly 70% of their coal jobs to mechanization (mountain removal strip mines). Also, the author argued that mountain removal causes the most deaths related to cancer and other diseases in central Appalachia.

“The NAACP and its allies released a research report titled Coal Blooded: Profit before people.” This report tells how coal pollution impacts low income and the colored community’s the most. Cold blooded uses demographic factors to show proof that the coal pollution impacts the low income and colored community the most. Coal blooded states “that coal pollution is literally killing low-income communities and colored communities.” Coal blooded also states that emissions controls are not sufficient “Coal blood has laid the frame work for individuals, organizations and policymakers to make a transition from coal to other energy sources.” We need to replace coal with clean energy alternatives. This report shows how harmful coal plants are to the

Since 1742, West Virginia has provided our nation and the world with the finest coal found anywhere. As of today, West Virginia’s coal miners apply useful and effective mineral removal technology that makes other countries envy their counterparts around the world. West Virginia’s exports more coal than any other state in the country. West Virginia has more longwall mining systems than any other state. This leads the nation in underground coal productions and sets the pace for the rest of the industry in recovery and environment protection. At the same time, West Virginia coal industry displays a sense of responsibility for health, safety and environmental that is incomparable anywhere in the world. Over the years, coal has

The Bible claims that this beautiful planet, mother Earth, was created for Adam and Eve and their descendants. In the past decade, our once seemingly healthy planet has taken a serious toll in regards to the many aspects of the environment. We as humans, have lacked the better judgment to nurture and protect our beloved planet, leaving it in the paths of destruction and grievances on a global scale. Although it all appears to be seemingly pleasant and well, the world is drastically affected by the issue of sustainability. For the past several decades, the state of Montana has been challenged with the daunting task of preservation. On the surface, Montana is filled with green scenes and nature, seemingly environmentally-friendly and clean, but

The discovery of anthracite coal in Pennsylvania in the late 1700s led to the development of a robust coal industry in the eastern part of Pennsylvania that grew rapidly and contributed greatly to the history and the economy of Pennsylvania. The book The Face of Decline written by Thomas Dublin, Walter Licht, provides a well written historical and personal account of the discovery, growth, and finally the collapse of the anthracite coal industry in Pennsylvania in a chronological format. Half way through the book one starts to notice some changes in the authors format to cause and effect. The change occurs in order to discuss the cause and resulting effect of events in the region and the solutions. The story is one of great growth and opportunity in the early years which are highlighted by the documented economic growth experienced and supported through testimony within the eastern Pennsylvania coal region. After a period of economic prosperity and community growth from 1900 through 1940 challenges began to erode and occur that created problems for the community and the economy that the coal industry provided. Finally the region’s economy suffered horrendous losses as described by interviews of local residents and families who lived and experienced the rise of the region’s economy. Many of the scars are still evident by the blight and decaying scenes one would experience by traveling through the region’s communities that once fueled the American economy with the energy

These fires can also destroy homes and business in their paths of destruction that leads to the destruction of economic prosperity of citizens as well as the loss of jobs. The ash created by these fires can pollute water sources, leading to humans and other species having their source of clean water taken away from them. As seen this past summer, the fires also produce smoke that can travel with the wind for hundreds of miles across state borders. This smoke can be damaging to the health of citizens breathing it in and can even be life threatening to those who have respiratory issues. With the Keystone pipeline emphasizing an economy centered around the use of fossil fuels, Montanans and people across the United States should prepare for many more summers of unhealthy air and the destruction of land and homes.

The process of mountaintop removal is a drawn out process that eventually leaves the earth it is leveling unusable. First, the mountain is cleared of trees, plants, and topsoil. The trees below are often cleared as well to make room for the rubble that will take their place. The next step involves blasting the top of the mountain. “Ammonium nitrate explosives” are used to “blast through up to 1,000 feet of the mountain in order to access coal seams” (The Destructive Process of Mountaintop Removal). During this time dust and toxic chemicals like silica, fall over surrounding areas sometimes even neighborhoods and communities. As noted before, silica is known to cause the lung disease silicosis, so it is disturbing that one of these removal sites is within several hundred yards of an elementary school (Hoffman). After blasting, the coal companies dig through the debris with enormous machines. The

Have you ever heard of mountaintop removal? Mountaintop removal is a recently developed way to mine for coal. It started in in the Appalachian Mountain area around the 1970s. More coal companies are using mountaintop removal to mine for coal. Mountaintop removal is a topic that includes many facts. You can learn about the process of mountaintop removal, where mountaintop removal takes place, and the effects of mountaintop

On the other hand, the new government administration (Obama) has become more aggressive to stop these powerful companies denying much permission to demolish such beautiful mountains. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is the agency to monitor the entire ecosystem, and check companies that have crossed lines of authorities. Coal companies get permission to demolish mountain and fill streams, but they have to deal with regulation that the EPA implement. However, other developing countries do not have such regulations as the United States. These countries can cause more damage to the environment because of the lack of agencies to enforce rules and keep way self-serving people that can manipulate legislators to satisfy their greedy pockets.