Leveling Appalachia: The Legacy of Mountaintop Removal Mining

During the last two decades, mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia has destroyed or severely damaged more than a million acres of forest and buried nearly 2,000 miles of streams. Leveling Appalachia: The Legacy of Mountaintop Removal Mining, a video report produced by Yale Environment 360 in collaboration with MediaStorm, focuses on the environmental and social impacts of this practice and examines the long-term effects on the region’s forests and waterways.

At a time when the Obama administration is reviewing mining permit applications throughout West Virginia and three other states, this video offers a first-hand look at mountaintop removal and what is at stake for Appalachia’s environment and its people.

http://www.e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2198

The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 was championed and signed by Jimmy Carter. Coal was Carter's primary answer to ending US reliance on foreign oil. Every once and a while I see people here talk about how much better things would be if only Carter's Energy plan had been enacted. It's bullshit. Carter's plan involved coal, coal, and more coal. His proposed investment in solar was minuscule compared to what he proposed for coal and shale oil--both of which would have wrought even greater environmental destruction than what we we've seen to date.

and the effects won't be felt for years. First they strip mined, now they simply blow the tops off of mountains. When does it end?