Coal+Country+-+Helinski


 * Coal Country **

1. Title, director and release year? · Coal Country · Mari-Lynn Evans, Phylis Geller  · 2009   2. What is the central argument or narrative of the film? · The dependencies on coal are at a level where there is no substitution for the level of dependencies on it right now · The destructive forces of mountain surfacing mining, and the devastating impact of mountain top removal  3. What sustainability problems does the film draw out? · The fact that coal is such a key element to today’s modern life, those who work to obtain are severely underpaid and underappreciated for the crucial element that they supply to the world · The film goes into great extent to show what kind of destructive forces are incorporated with cola mining on a social as well as an economical level. The film expresses the undermining of surrounding communities that occurs in such coal dependant areas such as West Virginia. · The amount of this action that is considered to be a legal activity o Out of 1800 permits in West Virginia, 59 or 3% of them are supporting the mountain top removal for coal mining  4. What parts of the film did you find most persuasive and compelling? Why? · The visual imagines of the fly by that showed the areas that suffered from mountain top removal capture the destructive forces of this method of coal mining o The separation of visual green in the wilderness is disturbing o <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Eight mountain top removal sites were visible within the eyesight of the one man looking around in a 360 view. · <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The shear mass of the drag lines can only leave to mind to imagine the rate at which the mountain tops can be remove at such a high rate · <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The closeness of residential houses to the mining site that had a picture taken of it in the US Weekly magazine o <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">They said that it was closely regulated but what is the required distance from residential areas? · <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The fact that a state of emergency was called when the mandate that coal blasting could not take place within 100 feet of a stream o <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Shows how dependent certain environments are on fossil fuels o <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How focused they are and unwilling to accept change · <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The realization that west Virginia is in a situation where their economic standing is keeping them bounded to the coal mining industry because it is labor that people would much rather be doing than flipping burgers · <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Not many opportunities for those that are not as privileged as in areas such as the Rockies and Berkshire Mountains · <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The quote from the woman who states that coal counties are the poorest countries in West Virginia while millions of dollars of coal and fossil fuels travel from them every day o <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The physical damage that the coal mines do to the communities tarnishing their imagine while countries with tourism are flourishing · <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The locals talking about how much their environments have been changing since the introduction of blast mining and how much it is changing the environment that they grew up in o <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The river and water changing patterns o <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The slime on the rocks in the river · <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The effects the polluted water is having on the close communities to the mine locations is something that I would never be able to fathom living near. o <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The view into the toilet tank is appalling and I can not believe that they have just accepted that as their living conditions. · <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The minimal efforts that are being put into controlling the coals dust o <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The collection bins to collect air samples is such a half attempt to make it appear as though measures are being taken to test the effects. § <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The green water is just a shame that is has reached that level because it only leads you to wonder when’s the last time is was checked? o <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The bubble to contain the dust is such an unrealistic approach to contain anything. I can’t even believe that money was put into such a ridiculous solution. o <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The decline in value of the homes due to the destruction from the coal mines is a perfect example of the crippling economical effect of the industry on the surrounding area. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> 5. What parts of the film were you not compelled or convinced by? · <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The man comparing the mountain top removal to viewing open heart surgery saying that the atavists are showing the worst of the worst and that what they are doing is not a destructive as they are trying to express · <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The protests and amount of upset that was thrown over the buffer zone rule going into effect because I feel as though that it was a sever overreaction on the coal mining industry when they were trying to say that it was the end of their work and ability to provide for their families. · <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The defensive arguments of people from the coal mining industry when they expressed “No coal, no lights” o <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">They are way too set in stone and not looking into possibilities that could relieve societies crippling dependency on coal. o <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It is understandable that they are being defensive over their professions because it is what they depend on, but the pigheadedness on the workers is unbelievable <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> 6. What additional information does this film compel you to seek out? Where do you want to dig deeper and what connections do you want to make with other issues, factors, problems, etc.? · <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The growth rates of mountain top removal compared to other rates of traditional mining methods that could show how much of an important issue it is and how pressing it is that it needs to be addressed. · <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Are there any trends in decline in specie population of fawn or fauna due to the changing environments on the Appalachian forests? What direct impact is it having on the surrounding environment? <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> 7. What audiences does the film best address? What kind of imagination is fostered in viewers? Do you think the film is likely to change the way viewers think about and act on environmental problems? · <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I do not think that this film has enough factual information to sway the views of those who are personally embedded into the coal industry, although someone who does not know much about the current methods of coal mining would be perfect candidates to have their eyes opened to a pressing issue. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> 8. What kinds of action or points of intervention are suggested by the film? · <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There are mentions about joining causes that would promote clean water and treating the rubble form the mountain tops as waste, but no talk on what to do about the mountain top removal itself. The actions suggested in film deal with the by products of the issue that it talks about, yet does not lead to what could be done for the issue itself. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> 9. What could have been added to this film to enhance its environmental educational value? · Some statistics of the impact of the mountain top removal on the surrounding area would support the cause. Some of the statistics that could have been used include: o Decline in wildlife o Life and ecosystem impact in the streams which the coal dust travels down · Economic Statistics of the coal mining towns and communities that show such things as: o Change of economic standings with the adoption of coal mining o The amount of revenue generated from one plant and how much of that is given back to the communities