About 60 people gathered at the Winter Sun Hall on Thursday evening for a presentation and public discussion on the environmental impact and health effects of mountaintop removal mining. Following a potluck on the Dogtown Roadhouse porch, local organizer Theresa Gigante greeted attendees and thanked local businesses who made donations in support of the event.
Seven guest panelists representing citizen action groups, including Mountain Justice, Climate Ground Zero, and The Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards explained the practice of strip mining, a technique that began in the 1970’s that uses explosives and large earth moving machinery to extract coal from the ground. Mountaintop removal is a form of strip mining in which the summits of mountains are blown off in order to expose underlying coal seams for extraction. The rubble (overburden) that results is dumped into nearby valleys, covering up head water streams and river systems and drying up wells. Toxic mining byproducts from mountaintop removal and coal processing have poisoned nearby drinking water. Airborne toxins and dust associated with the practice are also a health problem.
A slide show presentation shown at the event outlined strip mining and mountaintop removal operations that have impacted thousands of acres of Appalachian Mountains. A map showed the direct relationship between mining sites and our region’s source of electricity. Panelists shared the work their groups are doing to bring attention to the issue, which includes legislative work, picketing and protesting, non-violent acts of civil disobedience, building coalitions, supporting impacted communities and assisting them to develop economies that don’t rely on jobs from the coal indus...
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...mining coming in and companies driving unions into the ground,” said Roanoke panelist Jasper Conner, a member of the Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards.
More publicity, developing alternative energy sources, and changing the climate of government were some of the suggestions raised. Attendees were invited to participate in a mobilization effort to abolish mountaintop removal mining, organized by Appalachia Rising (appalachiarising.org). The weekend of actions will take place in Washington D.C. on September 25 –27. “What does solidarity from Floyd look like?” a panel member asked. “We have resources. We can help you organize. We can get you a bus,” she offered.
“I think it’s pathetic that we can’t fish out of our streams,” said Sid Moye, Wendy Johnston’s father. “I can’t believe I spent 41 years doing nothing about this,” Johnston concluded.
The story Duncan’s Way is about a boy named Duncan who lived in Newfoundland for really long he likes to fish he asked his dad to go fishing and his dad always says maybe later or just ignores him, but I read more Duncan’s ALL THE COD IN THE SEA HAS JUST DISSAPERED BUT THERE ARE SOME REASONS THE First REASON IS MAYBE ALL THE foreign factory ships might have sucked up ALL THE FISH FROM THE OCEAN OR PEOPLE like Duncan’s dad father overfished all the cod but all Duncan’s father mostly does is Sit on the couch and watch tv or is just Talking to his buddies and just doing nothing he is really isolating him self from
...ing the conditions faced by coal miners and their families in addition to events leading up to the uprising. However, some additional research should be done in regards to the West Virginia Coal Wars and the Battle of Blair Mountain.
The Depression hit the steel industry with a blowing force massively cutting hours and wages and the silence echoed through the mills with massive layoffs leaving them empty for months at a time. Entering the mill was like walking through a “deserted city” and “Leaving them was like coming out of a tomb.” (p.269). With the blame being placed on the rich and powerful because of the outspoken way they were handling the devastating hit to the mills, the worker became very upset sparking the movement for a union.
Eller, Ronald D. Miners, Millhands, and Mountaineers: Industrialization of the Appalachian South, 1880-1930. Knoxville: University of Tennessee, 1982. Print.
In the video “Fracking Hell: The Untold Story” by Link TV explains how natural gas has been a huge problem not only for the earth in general but for everyone and everything living in it. The video explains how North East of Pennsylvania is having difficulties to conserve a healthy environment and people. North East of Pennsylvania is the main sources to extract gas and send it throughout the United States for gasoline and so on. However, this action is wonderful for the cost of gas, but has a huge impact on the environment and the people living in Pennsylvania. A lot of people in this state are worried having health issues because everything is not usable is being thrown out to the rivers where they get their fresh water.
During the Colorado Coal Strike from 1913 to 1914, one of the largest losses of life was the Ludlow Massacre, or sometimes referred to as the Battle of Ludlow, on April 20, 1914. Colorado was the epicenter for mine-related violence in the West. From 1913 to 1918, the United Mine Workers of America launched a full-scale unionization campaign by sending forty-two organizers to the Trinidad coal mine located in Ludlow, Colorado. Ludlow was the largest tent colony in Colorado and a major source of tension during the Colorado Coal Strike. Strikers were asking for better wages and pay for “dead work” (unpaid work necessary for maintaining workable conditions), an eight-hour workday, the right to elect their own checkweighmen, the right to choose what resources they buy and use, and the enforcement of the Colorado Mining Laws.
Owens Valley lies to the east of the Sierra Nevada mountain and west of the White-Inyo mountain ranges, just to the west of the U.S.’s Great Basin. Early settlers to this area, as all other immediate surrounding area’s originally, were Indians, one of the Paiute tribes. This tribe lived by a simple and direct policy in terms of living with the environment. Their food supply was derived from seasonal crops of wild seeds and roots, fishing, and hunting of the deer, antelope, mountain sheep, jackrabbit, and waterfowl which flourished along the valley floor and hillsides. They took only what they required for food and trade. Unfortunately, pioneer expansion soon took precedence with the majority of them being miners who migrated to the region from the east following the Western mines (Sauder, 1994). With this colonization came agricultural expansion as well, which included cattle production and various farming crops. Of course, confrontation, the beginning of a lifetime of fight over Owens Valley, was spurred with the Paiutes over ownership of this rich valley abundant in usable resources. Due to the Paiute’s simple and peaceful attitude, the early pioneers took over the valley and every one of it’s resources, placing the Paiute’s out in the cold, where they continued urbanization and agriculture of the landscape.
Initially, this recognition appears to take the form of a stable income, despite price fluctuations within the marketplace for copper ore. In the book “Holding the Line: Women in the Great Arizona Mine Strike of 1983”, Barbara Kingsolver recounts several stories by miners of how the management structures in place within Phelps Dodge (and the mining industry in general throughout the southwest) allowed workers to be segregated into hierarchical classes based on race or gender. These stories demonstrate how structural violence within Phelps Dodge exacerbated discriminatory race relations between Anglo and Mexican Americans as well as the newly embroiling gender discriminations brought on by the increasing presence of women within the rank and file of the unionized mine workers in the
At the Homestead Steel Works outside Pittsburgh, which had been purchased by Carnegie in 1883, the chairman blamed the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers for low production, and with the expiry of the collective bargaining agreement approaching, he saw an opportunity to reduce the union’s power. Carnegie, who was an open supporter of unions, nevertheless agreed with Frick in the case of Homestead, because he considered AA to be a corrupt organization that did not properly represent the workers. In fact, only about 800 of the 3,800 employees at Homestead were members of AA (Krass 277).
Even though we believe there are so many happy things around us, these things are heartbreaking. The poems “Tips from My Father” by Carol Ann Davis, “Not Waving but Drowning” by Stevie Smith, and “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop convey the sorrow of growing up, of sorrowful pretending, and even of life itself. The poem “Tips from My Father” depicts an episode of the life of a father and his son. The pain from the childhood, the betraying of a lover, countless secrets are settling during the period of life, which can absolutely not be shared and understood by others.
Nuclear waste has a reputation for making law makers and the public uneasy, thus it is difficult to find a site for nuclear waste disposal units. However, creating such sites is necessary to allow nuclear energy to the electricity production forefront in America. In the search for a waste disposal location, companies have been turning toward Native American reservations as the final resting places of the radioactive waste. Multiple tribes have quickly denied companies access to their land, but others have taken advantage of the potentially prosperous opportunity. One of the first tribes to decline a waste site was the Navajos, for the nuclear industry’s destruction of their land was still fresh in their minds. It is true that nuclear waste disposal is a theoretically dangerous venture, yet it also contains many potential benefits. Siting a nuclear waste unit on the Navajo reservation would benefit the country and the Navajos, but the idea is meet with reluctance because of the suspected costs to the Navajo people, the environment as a whole, and the Navajo’s land.
It's a coming-together as a community to deal with a very pressing issue. The organizations should be composed of public officials,
The Mountaintop is a unique one act play based on Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.’s last night before he was assassinated. The entire play takes place in a single setting, room 306 of the Lorraine Motel. The production brings an interesting perspective into play by introducing a female supporting act that at first seemed to represent one of King’s infamous mistresses, but turned out to be an angel who was sent to take King up to heaven. The play covers many aspects of King’s life and attempts to show him on a more personal level. The main theme of the play seemed to be based around humanizing King, showing elements of his life many people didn’t know about. Overall the play had good composition, many historical references, and quality acting.
What comes to mind when you think of coal mining? If you're like me, coal mining means living in darkness and a cold hearted industry. Other words that come to mind are poverty and oppression. Coal mining is not a job that you dream about or get a degree for. People who are coal miners do not chose a life full of danger and repression, they get stuck with it. There are many dangers that come along with coal mining, not only for the workers, but for the environment. Coal mining and the coal industry have caused irreversible damage to our environment and has killed innocent miners.
In our days, mining for resources is inevitable. The resources we need are valuable in everyday life. Such resources mined up are coal, copper, gold, silver, and sand. However, mining poses environmental risks that can degrade the quality of soil and water, which can end up effecting us humans if not taken care of and many of the damages are irreversible once they have occurred.