Coal Country

Knowing where our power comes from is as important as knowing where our food comes from.

I am seeing some of the poorest counties in the U.S. as I travel through Kentucky and Virginia. There is a hard contrast from rolling estates surrounded by board fences to vinyl villages, double-wides, then run down trailers surrounded by mud filled yards, cemeteries and personal landfills. I find the scenery so different, strangely refreshing, not having been altered by gentrification!

I am stunned by the devastation of these precious mountains called the Appalachians.  The cause of devastation is mountain top removal (coal strip mining) which is taking place daily and executed by large coal companies.  The purpose of coal strip mining is to deliver us the cheap energy that coal offers.

As entire mountains are being removed, it is easy to understand the balance of perspective; we have the environmentalist on one side and on the other side are those who are dependent on coal mining as a way to eek out a living.

Coal mining in these mountains is almost all that exists here! I have seen Walmart in the larger towns, but otherwise only McDonald's and Hardees.  A neon sign caught my attention:  "Catering-LIVE BAIT" (now, that may be something to consider!).

There are gas stations, super convenience stores. and an unnatural number of florist shops. The cemeteries are bright colors of flowers (they appear to be plastic). Folks die young and often, due in part to the alarmingly high cancer and respiratory disease rates caused by the coal dust.

Thousands of waterways have been buried as mountaintops have been removed throughout Appalachia.  The project leaves much to feel sad about and also a calling to consider how I contribute to this. This is an area of the world that needs preservation - there is something strangely charming in even the roadside sites giving the glimpse of a very different way of life.

In Breathitt County we stop to explore the best of the best of reclamation projects. Twenty years ago, there was a jagged peaked mountain providing a large water source that ran through the valley, until the top was blasted and scraped, coal was mined and the hollows and streams filled with toxic blasted rock. Once the valley was filled with millions of tons of blasted rock and sediment, the area was then deserted and left looking desolate.  Robinson Forest is a reclamation project funded by the University of Kentucky.  The project includes plantings of thousands of non-native trees and plants and a natural stream replicating the original one. Elk have been brought in and we see evidence of them everywhere we walk. The University of Kentucky is heavily subsidized by the coal companies.

It's a hard and complicated issue at best.

Even if this system of reclamation proves to be an answer to restoring the mountaintops , the people of the region will continue to be covered with the black soot that covers their towns with every blasting.  Cancer rates and health issues related to coal mining run deep.  It is not uncommon for the toxins found in coal sludge to find their way into the aquifers of local drinking water.

This would not happen in the Berkshires.

Now that I know the devastation and ruin that is taking place all in an effort to bring me cheap power, I will think more carefully about turning on lights and will consider the alternatives. My husband and I have been looking at getting a wind turbine in our back yard. Until that happens, I am considering every place that we may possibly cut our power consumption.

Much like food, there is a need to consider our sources of energy. If they are coming from great distances, we should ensure that they are good and clean (coined from Slow Food), good for our environment and our health.  We should also ensure that these sources are safe  in that all those who are providing our sources are being treated fairly - a reassurance that "because of me, the environment is not suffering".  This area/situation reminds me of the quote "let's poison our children to feed them."

This is a big environmental issue. Obama has taken it on and is feeling the heat from the coal debate. Of the 175 proposed mines to be blasted, the EPA has issued 48 permits to begin blasting. This has the environmentalists screaming that 48 is too much and the coal industry and coal mining families claiming loss of revenue and jobs.

This isn't unlike farming and real estate development.

We have to carefully weigh what it brings to us, and at what cost.

Resources

www.ilovemountains.org

Visit above site and enter your information to see your direct connection to coal mining.

Coal Country

This documentary film tells of the dramatic struggle surrounding the use of coal, which provides over half the electricity in America.

*Image credit:  DzmitryParul