Mountain Top Removal: Extreme Injustices Continue to Slip Through the Cracks
Nobody can deny that in this day we have the world at our fingertips and the ability to obtain anything we want with minimal resistance. Along with this endless opportunity there also lies an ethical code we must be responsible enough to respect, or this world would run rampant with greed and failure. Unfortunately, there are people right here in our country that think they’re entitled to all of nature’s resources and will never have to deal with the consequences for abusing our planet. There are infinitely many ways in which people are mindlessly reaping the planet of all it’s worth, but one of the most tragic of all environmental injustices is: MOUNTAIN TOP REMOVAL.
Mountain top removal (MTR) is a process in which coal companies use explosives to remove the tops and sides of mountains in order to reach a mere two to four feet wide strip of coal. It directly affects the Appalachian regions of Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia, but the power from this coal is delivered all over the Southeast. This process is not only an immoral action, but it also causes complete environmental devastation, huge income disparities, and deadly health risks.
The worst part of all, is that if we just utilized our technologies correctly, we would eliminate all dependency on coal completely.
Most people learn by the time they’re eight years old what it means to love your planet. Apparently, there are a few executives at Dominion Power that weren’t paying attention to their parents, teachers, pastors, and peers that decided that removing the mountain from the coal, as opposed to the coal from the mountain was a genius idea. The destruction caused by MTR is irreversible. When a mountain top is blown up by a series of explosions, the land is flattened and the life is killed. This land cannot be used for anything now, not even grass, let alone a wind turbine. There are no more trees to produce oxygen and there are no habitats for the animals that once lived in these woods. But I guess that wouldn’t matter, since they’re all dead too. No longer will we be able to do research on tress that are hundreds of years old because they’re all gone. All plant species are extinct and the world’s natural cycle is completely thrown off. The toxic chemicals that are injected into the mountains to cause explosion are projected into the air, ruining air quality and killing forests that would otherwise continue their natural cycles almost unaffected. The dust and heavy metals carried through the air will also kill mammals and birds that aren’t anywhere near the MTR site. The water is contaminated beyond repair as well. The coal companies create these “sludge ponds” at MTR sites that collect a mixture of water, toxic chemicals, and heavy metals. When more than a drop of rain hits these ponds, they flood and send this hazardous flow into mainstream water, killing off what little marine life exists in Appalachia. The Earth cannot sustain itself when we are damaging it past the point of destruction, so unless we put a stop to this now, you can forget ever showing your children what a mountain looks like.
Many people think that Mountain Top Removal may be very bad for the environment, but are under the impression that it is bringing some source of revenue to these typically poor regions of the country. MTR actually increases income disparities by putting a monopoly on the power supply in these areas, as well as making it the only job locals can really have. Providing jobs is not so simple. The coal companies are not providing enough positions for these citizens because it’s mostly machine powered. There are hardly any livable wages nor are they providing a job ladder or any opportunity a traditional coal miner wouldn’t have been able to obtain. The people of Appalachia do not wish to work in coal, but their only other option is to be minimally paid to leave their homes, so the coal companies can blow it up for another six inches of coal. At this point, all of the wealth is held by the top executives in these companies, the state government who is benefiting more than any citizen, and the police that are paid off to not let the people of the region opposing a site have a voice. The people of Appalachia aren’t looking to make money from coal. They are trying to live peacefully and sustainably: the way humans are naturally supposed to live.
The most tragic consequence to mountain top removal is the deadly health risks associated with it. Many think that MTR is better than traditional coal mining because there were so many miners who would suffocate or get black lung from being down in the mines for so many years. But as it turns out, MTR is a far more dangerous process. There is one man I met up in Appalachia who worked in the coal mines for thirty years, and has the medical records to prove that upon his retirement he was as healthy as a horse. About three years ago, he had a heart attack and when he was in the hospital, his doctor told him it was from his black lung. Not nearly as many people had black lung in these regions as they do now, because the coal is blasted far and wide, and with every contaminated dust particle one breathes in, a step closer they are to death. Along with black lung, these regions have a higher asthma rate than anywhere else in the country.
These citizens are also forced to drink, bathe, and water their crops with the polluted water, causing more health complications than one can imagine. The amounts of heavy metals in their bodies is far greater than should ever be in any one person. So health risks are inevitable anywhere you go, but actual danger is inexcusable. The boulders that fall within these explosions roll down into the surrounding communities, are extremely heavy and upon physically hitting people at high speeds cause death. The sludge ponds and general mudslides that occur also have wiped out entire communities, killing everything in the way.
The thing that’s so confusing to me about all of this is that we don’t even need to be doing this in the first place. It’s true that we cannot eliminate the use of coal overnight, but there is NO logical reason to continue to build any new coal fired power plants. All of these regions are ideal for wind power; the technology is ready for wind turbines to be able to be installed just one time and updated as needed and improvements are made. Green jobs provide so much more opportunity for the people of these regions as well as allow eco-tourism flourish and consequentially enhance the success of small, local businesses. If we have the means and ways to utilize sustainable technologies, how can we morally live with knowing that mountain top removal is still happening twenty four hours a day? We must take action now! Write to your congressman and let them know that America wants a clean energy future and that this legislation needs to move. Even if you are not a resident of one of the directly affected districts, your energy is coming from this same coal! Log onto: http://ilovemountains.org/action/write_your_rep/ to find out what action is most appropriate and to see what else you can do to get all forms of radical coal mining outlawed!
