The Appalachian Mountains are being destroyed because of our dependence and hunger for coal. According to the The Last Mountain, 1/3 of the Appalachians have been destroyed to obtain coal. In the United States, we receive over half of our electricity from coal, producing nearly half of the harmful greenhouse gasses. The coal company, Massey, commonly uses mining practices in which it employs great harm on the environment. Over 2,000 streams have been filled with toxic heavy metals and over a million acres of forests have been destroyed. Consequently, this also greatly affects the ecosystem in which it surrounds. Some of the fish are known to have spinal problems and multiple eyes. Although the mining companies are required to rebuild the stream, it is nearly impossible to restore the stream to its pre-mining condition. Due to deforestation and disrupting the ecosystem, a turbulent rainfall could result in a flooded valley, affecting the nearby communities. The communities around these areas are extremely concerned about the ongoing environmental degradation and the health effects. When the coal mining process of blasting occurs at the top of a mountain, a thick residue accumulates on resident’s homes. This residue has yet to be linked with health problems, but a higher than normal amount of people developing asthma has been recorded in the Appalachians. In my opinion, you are convinced that there has not been sufficient research and enough time to determine the cause of resident’s diseases, but would not be surprised if it were linked to the mountain top removal processes. Furthermore, there is a small town within the Appalachians in which six residents developed brain tumors within 20 years of each other. The likelihood of developing a brain tumor is 1 in 100,000, yet the rate of people experiencing a brain tumor in this town is much higher. In addition, within the Appalachians there have been numerous accounts of cancer and Autism. Massey denies any relationship between mining and the health of the surrounding cities. In my opinion, I think that these practices being used by Massey are directly related to the health problems in the area of Appalachia. Massey argues they promote jobs in the area, yet the communities in the Appalachians are the some of the poorest in the country, some people even refer this area as a third world country. Due to an increase in technology, there are not as many people needed to work in order to mine properly. The Coal River Valley only profits a few hundred thousand dollars from the mining, which does not outweigh the environmental costs. So the Coal River Valley has come up with a different environmentally friendly and economic plan to bring in revenue. The Coal River Valley proposes installing wind turbines; the areas on the mountains have Wind Power Class of 5. This makes the location very suitable, as the highest Wind Power Class is 7. In addition, the Coal River Valley would also receive an annual income totaling millions of dollars. This environmentally friendly proposal would also preserve the Appalachians for future generations.
Reference:
Bingham, C., Grunebaum, E., Haney, B., (Producers) and Haney, B. (Director). (2011) The Last Mountain. (Motion Picture). United States: Solid Ground Films.
2 comments:
Wow! This process destroys the mountain literally. This cannot be good for the surrounding environment and its inhabitants. Are there other forms of coal mining that have less of an impact on the environment? Let’s face it; this country depends on coal as a major source of energy. Unfortunately that coal has to come from somewhere. Until there is an economical alternative to coal how else can we get this energy? I am not sure that wind energy is the answer.
My first thought is that this is terrible and needs to end. The only problem is I and every american rely on coal in one way or another to maintain the lifestyle we have. Sure this very destructive process creates many environmental and sounds like economical issues locally in these communities also but what are our alternatives to substitute our need for coal energy. Finding a resource to replace coal and its 50% contribution to our countries energy requirement is an almost unattainable goal. The only idea i can think of on my own would be to develop less invasive techniques to obtaining coal. I now there are many operations that do all mining underground leaving the above ground landscape virtually unscathed. Is it as efficient? probably not. Is it safer? probably not. Is it a more expensive method? Probably. There are many things to look and must understand the trade offs and accept them or dive in head first and actually develop a solution and not just discuss it.
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