More on the Mountaintop

It is nice to think that those outside Appalachia care about its citizens enough to blog on the problems associated with mountaintop mining. One thing we don't need, though, is to further the stereotype of helpless mountaineers who are being taken advantage of by the coal companies, and need to be rescued by someone, preferably the government. There is enough of a culture of government dependence in West Virginia without encouraging more of such thinking. The people of Sylvester were certainly not helpless when they took Massey to court, and obtained a favorable jury verdict. See the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition report on the decision to punish Elk Run Coal for allowing dust to escape its prep plant.

Mining and burning coal require trade offs. People can disagree on how or even whether coal should be produced at all, but the worst thing is to suggest that the people of Southern West Virginia are hostages to fortune. There are environmental effects (not as dire as the first article suggests) but there are also substantial benefits. Coal brings in tremendous amounts of money to the state and to the counties where it is mined. In many of those counties, there is precious little else generating income other than energy production of one type or another, or timbering. Mountaintop mining is one way to produce energy or the nation, and those who talk with approval of underground mining forget or ignore the many complaints of lost well water sources, subsidence, and other problems that can arise from that type of mining.

Rather than painting coal as an evil or blessing, why not simply argue the issues on their merits? Do away with mining, but do it with a full knowledge of the effect it will have, and the reductions in state and local resources that will result.