KingCoalCountry

=Coal Country= (2009) Director: Phylis Geller

Central Argument/Narrative
"Coal keeps the lights on." This film is a look into how the coal industry props-up and supports, is destroying, and is the identity of the state of West Virginia.

Matrix of Sustainability Problems
Southern West Virginia is the poorest region of the poorest state in the United States. Working for coal companies is usually the only job in town. They have no choice, yet coal miners take great pride in their work. When the coal miners' unions were destroyed in the early 1980s, miners felt betrayed by the coal corporations that they had shown so much loyalty to.

One of the "strongest" arguments in favor of coal mining is that it employs people. Yet, because of more modern coal practices and the decrease of underground coal mining, the number of people employed by the coal industry has decreased. In the 1950s, 115,000 people worked in coal mining; today, that number is 15,000. Only about 500 people are employed in the mountaintop removal technique of coal mining.

Persuasive and Compelling
The aerial images of the effects of mountaintop removal are compelling as they show the sheer size in the damage.

Reclamation is common touted as mountaintop removal's catch-all for remedying the land the practice destroys. In reality, reclamation looks green but lacks biodiversity and the actually mountaintop!

One resonating quote from the film: "We're mountaineers. If they take away our mountains, then who are we?"

Environmental Education Value
The film brought to light the following two factoids. Coal slurry remains untreated in 110 impoundments in West Virginia (many near communities). If one builds a new solar plant and a new coal plant today, the solar plant will have four times the capacity at completion of the plant.

Points of Intervention
U.S. Senator Rockefeller was opposed to mountaintop removal and West Virginia's dependence on the coal industry, but changed his viewpoint after election.

Grassroots campaigns are going to Congress, and they are getting a lot of support--except from West Virginian politicians. Why aren't they supporting their own constituents?

"Creation Care", other environmentally-friendly conservative movements, and youth movements are advocating for the health of West Virginia's land and people.

Seek Out New Information
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for the waterways of the U.S. U.S. Code Title 33 Section 407 River and Harbors Act of 1899 Judge Haden as an environmental role model <@http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/25/us/charles-haden-66-us-judge-on-strip-mining-case-is-dead.html>