Going back to yesterdays post - I wrote about feeling restricted because of a label - environmental extremist. I don’t know that I was consciously aware I was restricting myself until I wrote it in the last post. Since then I’ve been thinking about it more and more and have come to a conclusion - call me what you will. I don’t care.

I actually started feeling a little uncomfortable with the idea immediately after writing the post. One thing is for sure - I won’t be held back by the friends of coal in any manner from this point forward - regardless of any label. You could say I’m coming at them wide open from now on.

I have touched on this subject previously on the BackWoods Drifter blog. There are so many aspects of mountaintop removal coal mining that is it tough to focus on any particular one for any length of time.

Writing a blog and trying to make the reader aware of MTR makes one feel the need to discuss all aspects at least a little. Being as that is the case, someone new to the subject can find it extremely overwhelming - at first. Persistence will allow the researcher to see the big picture. It is all connected and with just a little research, the connections become obvious.

I started thinking about all the different aspects of mountaintop removal - again - after reading an excellent post by Albert on The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles blog concerning the wild boar population and mountaintop removal. I haven’t touched too much on the wildlife aspect. I kind of touch on it in this post - Animal Migration & Mountaintop Removal.

I’ve purposely avoided talking about the wildlife and endangered plant species (ginseng) for the simple fact it would be ammunition for the Friends of Coal. If you are against mountaintop removal and live in the coalfields then you are not a resident you are an environmental extremist. Although I am wholly disgusted by the destruction to the environment, I feel I can’t shine a light on it as much as I would like because then the coal industry would label me an environmental extremist.

The thing that saves me is the fact that there are as many, if not more, humanitarian issues concerned with mountaintop removal so I have no lack of topics. I can and do talk about the environment freely when it is directly connected to humanitarian issues.

With all of that being said, I’m glad other bloggers can blog about the aspects of mountaintop removal I feel restricted from blogging about. I encourage you to check out Albert’s post - very informative.

The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles - Wild Pigs Not Tough Enough to Face Ol’ King Coal

Adding - I should also point out Albert talks about Marsh Fork in his post and in my opinion Marsh Fork is a huge humanitarian issue.

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On another note - I have put a new photo gallery online. Photos I include in posts on this blog and the BackWoods Drifter blog will be stored in the gallery. It will also contain all of the photos I don’t write a post for.

The BackWoods Drifter Photo Gallery

In a few places on the internet and in relation to coal mining you will find people talking about the destruction of our headwaters. When I say our headwaters I don’t mean West Virginia’s, I mean everybody east of the Mississippi all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico.

We may supply coal to a large portion of the country but a large portion of the country’s water starts right here in the Appalachia’s as well. Do you think the headwaters are in good shape?

Think again…

All of the photos in this post are from the discharge of one abandon mine. I have pictures from a couple others that are the same and will display those in an upcoming post. These are our headwaters. This acid mine drainage flows unchecked into Cabin Creek, to the Kanawha River and then the Ohio River eventually ending up in the Gulf of Mexico. But, this is our problem - right?

There are hundreds if not thousands of these abandon mines. Some of them completely flooded with either acid water or slurry from a mine injection site. Put it together with millions of pounds of explosives being detonated every day in the mountains and it adds up to an environmental catastrophe that will take hundreds of years to play out. I don’t argue the abandon mines make good containment facilities - I argue them remaining that way with the ground around them on the move. As the photos in this post and the post coming up suggest - some of those mines are a problem without the added explosions.

Acid Mine Drainage - Wikipedia

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The smell coming from this water and the open drift mouth smells like something similar to rotten eggs or worse. It’s just nasty.

I remember recently reading a response from a Coal Official about the opposition to MTR. He stated that it was just a few people making a lot of noise. Well, seems he is wrong. Although I didn’t get to go to the I Love Mountains Day in Frankfort, Ky, last month, they had a record turnout. Last year they had 200 people attend, and this year there were 1200!!! And that was in spite of some people not coming out because of snow and ice. The outrage about MTR is there…. people are finding out….. the word is spreading. What has been hidden in secrecy for 2 decades is not hidden anymore. Let’s keep spreading the word in every way possible. If you have a blog, post about MTR regularly. Send e-mails to friends. Write a letter to the Editor, no matter what part of the country you live in. Call WV and KY’s governor, senators, and representatives and express your outrage. We ALL have to speak up about it!

Here’s a neat slideshow by Jim Pence with pictures from the day in KY. It is very encouraging…

 Posted By Bluemountainmama

” It will make you angry especially if you’re disturbed by the Bush administration’s radically pro-business approach to energy policy and the environment. Of course, if you’re an admirer and a beneficiary of those policies, Shnayerson’s evident bias against them also will make you angry.”

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‘Coal River’ by Michael Shnayerson
Foes of Big Coal fighting uphill battle in West Virginia
By Diana Nelson Jones, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“Mountaintop-removal mining and the hard knot of activism against it in Appalachia are this era’s great pitched coal-field battle — much deadlier than the Battles of Blair Mountain and Matewan.”

From the Sierra Club - Sign our petition to Massey Energy and tell CEO Don Blankenship that we must end mountaintop removal mining today.

Tell Massey Energy to End Mountaintop Removal Mining

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When I first read this take action notice I thought a lot of good it will do to tell Blankenship anything. He is a ruthless business man plain and simple. But on the other hand, it does give one the opportunity to let Blankenship know of our disapproval. I signed the petition - will you?

I had not read these stories from The Wall Street Journal Law Blog until a good friend sent them to me this morning. I had heard quite a bit about Blankenship’s effort to sway the supreme court in a 76.3 million dollar suit against Massey Energy. The links in this post follow the story on the WSJ Law Blog.

The Recusal Kerfuffle at the West Virginia Supreme Court - Jan 23, 08
West Virginia Supremes to Rehear Massey Case - Jan24, 08
More Recusal Requests at the West Virginia Supreme Court - Jan 28,08
Recusal-Go-Round Continues at West Virginia Supreme Court - Feb 13, 08
Another Justice to Step Down in Massey Energy Case - Feb 15, 08

adding from the Charleston Gazette - Conflict: Disturbing Problem - Feb 26, 08

I just received this link to the following story and wanted to share it. This is a very good article apparently written with passion.

Coal mining ravages Appalachia mountains

Prelude -
“They’re ripping the tops off mountains in West Virginia coal country to feed our insatiable appetite for power. It’s cheaper that way. And the trees and the animals and the flooding? It may not be pretty, but we’ve got all those dishwashers to run.”

Feb 23, 2008 04:30 AM
Catherine Porter
Environment Reporter

I had the opportunity to visit Kayford Mountain yesterday. Unfortunately it was extremely foggy and the pictures I have only give an indication of the destruction hidden under a blanket of fog.

Although I didn’t get to see the mountaintop removal going on around Larry’s place I did get to listen to him talk to college students for a couple of hours. The difference between myself and the students - I know what is hidden beneath the fog. At one point in Larry’s monologue, the coal company let off a blast that shook the ground and everything in the little cabin we were in.

It is hard to listen to Larry and not feel the loss Larry and his family have endured. There are multiple camps on the mountain and as we drove past one camper my escort pointed out bullet holes in the camper from miners afraid for their job. I wonder how afraid that same miner would have been had he hit someone. His job would no longer be an issue.

At one point Larry looks at me and wants to know my story. At a meeting concerning mountaintop removal when someone asks for your story they want to know how mountaintop removal has affected you. Usually it takes a direct connection for a person to get involved and stand up to the coal company. With myself that is not the case. Besides the coal company now blowing up Bolt Mountain I have no direct connection. I got involved because of the wrongness of it all. I got involved because a coal company is running and ruining this state. I got involved because of propaganda commercials aimed at the mentality of a child - intended for adults. I got involved because of communities who are at this very minute fighting for their right to have clean water. Fighting for water in the 21st century. That is just wrong on so many different levels.

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It seems like even authoring two blogs it is hard to get people to care about the people in these mountains. I think that is sad and definitely gives a strong indication of how civilized we really are. I actually thought when I started blogging about mountaintop removal it was so obviously wrong I wouldn’t have to do much talking. Sometimes, even I am a fool. I will continue to be a fool if that is what it takes and if I lose all of my readers - so be it. I may not be able to get the civilized world fired up but one thing is for sure - I will die trying.

This post has been edited since posting.