1 post tagged “don blankenship”

I received an e-mail inviting me to an Earth Justice sponsored event concerning Mountain Top Removal in the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia. Although this was a subject I knew really nothing about I decided to take a leap and join in.   After reading a couple of articles and checking out earthjustice.org I came to discover that the ongoing destruction of mountain top removal through mining has not only been damaging the landscape of particular regions but it is also depleting the wildlife and causing health damage within the community.  I was shocked to discover that this issue has in actuality been going on for over a decade and it has not been until within the last 10 years that people have actually begun to speak out on the issue.

EarthJustice.org has been the leading non-profit environmental law firm in the US since 1971.  Their work is geared toward protecting our wildlife and demanding justice for our earth.  If you get a chance check out their website at www.earthjustice.org.  This particular earthjustice event took place at the Folk Art Museum of NY and catered to a discussion of a recent book entitled "Coal River" by Michael Shanyerson.  Mike has been a writer for Vanity Fair for some time and it wasn't until a few years ago that he began to investigate the issues going on in the Appalachian Mountains.  Within this book his main characters include dedicated long time defender and environmental lawyer Joe Lovett and native grassroots activist Judith Bonds.  Joe, Judith and Mike all sat on the panel with one of Earth Justice's lawyers Jared Safer.

The discussion began with an introduction to earthjustice, followed by a short intro by Mike and then on to the discussion concerning the reasons why we were all brought there that night.  Joe Lovett explained the complexities of the many years spent on trying to protect the community from the damage forced upon the residents.  He expressed that although they have been fighting this cause since about 1994 the fight will be on going.  Judith, who grew up in the local community and still currently resides there, has refused to move on as some of her fellow neighbors have.  She explained that this community was here long before these major corporations and that she would not be kicked out of her home.  She also expressed that the only way they would ever get ride of her is "if they killed me".  It is often times rare to find people who are this dedicated...in fact as I heard her speaking, I wondered if I would ever have that same courage.  Good for you Judith!

The ramifications of the destruction going on are endless; earth wise, health wise, community wise.  The damage of these particular mountains is causing debris to spread out onto other part of other mountains.  They fall onto the streams, kill the wildlife, sometimes even closing in bears within their caves/homes, as well as killing the fish in these now poisoned streams.  One of the worse parts is that once these lands get torn up and damaged there is NO WAY of ever getting them back.  Forests that have been around for ages are no longer forests but mere pieces of man made damage.  Recent studies are starting to prove that the excessive mercury in the tap water found within the homes of these communities are beginning to take a toll on the peoples health.  1 out of 5 women are finding it more difficult to get pregnant, the dust particles from the coal are beginning to cause children in the local schools to develop asthma and not to mention other health issues.

As the conversations went on between the panelists they spoke about the big coal-mining corporations, particularly Don Blankenship of Massey Energy.  They elaborated on our current government and the recent laws since the Bush Administration that are protecting these companies.  Joel and Judith explained that there is no way of circumventing the destruction being caused by this type of mining.  Mountains get blown up for the little bits of precious coal that are located way deep down within the mountains and in fact the only way to actually get that particular type of coal is to destroy the mountains from the top.  The old fashion way of mining is still going on, don't let this mislead you, only that the old way of mining isn't so cost efficient.  Although it seems a bit ridiculous that these miners would go through such extremes to retain this coal it doesn't sound so extreme when the benefits reaped are making so much more sense, i.e. MONEY!   Which kind of makes you wonder...

Although gaining this coal means completely destroying part of the earth and its surrounding it in fact means a cheaper more environmentally hazardous source of energy.  Let's not get started with the futuristic ideas that these companies are contemplating, such as melting coal, which intern really means more CO2 in our air.   You may also wonder, “well what about the workers, they need jobs!”  Yes, its true jobs are needed, especially now.  But in actuality the amount of miners that actually exist now are a mere 1,600, total.  Before you go off and start blaming environmentalists for this change, really we need to look at the source, that being the Coal Corporations.  Mountain top removal requires far less employees and more explosives, it is simply more efficient and quicker.  So really these companies are not out there to create more jobs for people, their main goal is efficiency and money.

Judith ended the discussion by passing around a zip-lock bag filled with coal noting that “America needs to realize where energy comes from and the people who are suffering from it”.