The authors focus on the impacts of MTR on the quality of life of residents in central Appalachia through increased employment. This paper addresses the argument by many policymakers that despite the environmental impacts, MTR contributes to local economies through job creation and retention. The authors used “socio-spatial analysis” to investigate MTR’s impact on employment in communities in southern West Virginia. They integrated coal mining permit boundaries with employment indicators obtained from the U.S. Census. Contrary to pro-MTR arguments, the authors found “no supporting evidence suggesting MTR contributed positively to nearby communities’ employment.” The authors also use Gaventa’s (1980) work to link their findings to “broader issues of hegemony [power, domination] at the local level as well as at larger scales of policy formation.”
Brad R. Woods and Jason S. Gordoni
Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 2011
Mountaintop Removal is Destroying Our Proud Mountains. Now TN is Fighting Back.
Advocates of the Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection Act are raising the bar with a powerful new television ad asking Tennesseans to contact their state elected officials in support of the bill. The ad will be running statewide on Fox News, with heavy buys in strategically targeted legislative districts.
See the ad for the first time here:
If you live in Tennessee, call Governor Haslam (615-741-2001). He opposed mountaintop removal in the campaign. Tell him that now is the time to act to protect our mountains from mountaintop removal.
In addition please call your TN State Senator(1-800-449-8366) and ask them to support the Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection Act.
The Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection act would eliminate high-elevation surface mining techniques – such as mountaintop removal – above 2,000 feet of elevation in the state of Tennessee. The legislature is expected to take the bill up later this session.
A group of environmental advocates is launching a new mapping tool that uses scientific evidence and government data to plot the human casualties of mountaintop removal coal mining.
The comprehensive tool, created by Appalachian Voices for iLoveMountains.org, is being released in conjunction with the annual I Love Mountains Day in Frankfurt, Ky. More than 1,200 citizens are expected to gather on the state’s capitol steps on Valentine’s Day to advocate for an end to mountaintop removal coal mining, a destructive practice that has shortened lifespans and caused illnesses in Central Appalachia for decades.
“In the past year several studies have come out about the health impacts of living near mountaintop removal mining,” said Ada Smith, 24, a Letcher County, Ky., resident and a speaker at I Love Mountains Day. “Though many of the studies state the obvious for those of us living in these communities, the scientific facts give us much-needed evidence to make sure our laws are truly enforced for the health of our land and people.”
The new tool on iLoveMountains.org called “The Human Cost of Coal” is an accumulation of data from verified government sources and peer-reviewed scientific studies plotted on a Google map to show the correlation between mountaintop removal coal mining and increased health problems, lowered life expectancy and high poverty rates in Central Appalachia.
“It is important to realize that birth defects for babies born in [areas impacted by] mountaintop removal are over twice as high than if the mother smokes during pregnancy, and over 10 times as high for circulatory/ respiratory defects,” said Vernon Haltom from Coal River Mountain Watch.
“The Human Cost of Coal” layer pulls from national data including poverty rates from the 2010 U.S. Census, the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, and life expectancy and population numbers from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. The site also includes summaries for more than twenty peer-reviewed studies from 2007 to 2011 that provide evidence that human health problems such as heart, respiratory and kidney diseases, cancer, low birth weight and serious birth defects are significantly higher in communities near mountaintop removal mine sites.
Mountaintop removal is a radical form of coal mining that involves using heavy explosives to blast off the tops of mountains and dumping the resulting waste into nearby valleys, burying headwater streams. More than 500 mountains and 2,000 miles of streams have been destroyed in Central and Southern Appalachia by mountaintop removal mining. Numerous health and environmental issues have been linked with the radical form of mining in the region.
ILoveMountains.org is a project of The Alliance for Appalachia, which is made up of thirteen local, state and regional organizations across Appalachia working together to end mountaintop removal and create a prosperous future for the region.
To view “The Human Cost of Coal,” visit iLoveMountains.org/the-human-cost.
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To schedule interviews or obtain images and video b-roll, please contact kate@appvoices.org.
Today more than 1,200 people are gathering in Frankfort, Ky., to celebrate I Love Mountains Day and call for an end to mountaintop removal coal mining, a destructive practice that has shortened lifespans and caused illnesses in Central Appalachia for decades.
The iLoveMountains.org team has just launched an innovative new web tool to illustrate the overwhelming amount of data that shows the high human cost of coal mining, and we invite you to check it out!
“The Human Cost of Coal” page maps national data including poverty rates from the 2010 U.S. Census, birth defect rates from the Center for Disease Control, the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, and life expectancy and population numbers from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. The site also includes summaries for twenty one peer-reviewed studies that show human health problems such as heart, respiratory and kidney diseases, cancer, low birth weight and serious birth defects are significantly higher in communities near mountaintop removal mine sites.
Ada Smith, a resident of Letcher County Kentucky explains the significance of “The Human Cost of Coal”:
“Though many of the (health) studies state the obvious for those of us living in these communities, the scientific facts give us much-needed evidence to make sure our laws are truly enforced for the health of our land and people. If we choose to not pay attention to these recent studies we are deciding to make Appalachia a sacrifice zone. What we do to the land, we do to the people.”
Mountaintop removal coal mining is destroying the mountains and threatening the health and lives of communities across Appalachia. But people in Appalachia are standing up and today they need your support.
Residents of Blair, West Virginia have noticed increased activity from mining company Arch Coal around Blair Mountain — site of the largest labor uprising in American history. Residents are becoming increasingly concerned about Arch’s activities and fear they will move forward with plans to mine the historic location.
Just minutes ago, this multi-billion dollar company announced record profits for the fourth quarter of last year. Arch Coal has four planned operations on Blair Mountain, some of which intrude onto the battlefield.
Folks in Appalachia won’t stand for Arch Coal’s plan to destroy their community and our nation’s history just so they can increase their profit margin, and we shouldn’t either.
Call Arch CEO, Steven Leer today, and tell him that Appalachian communities should not fall victim to pad his profit margin: iLoveMountains.org/Blair-Mountain
To allow Arch Coal to destroy Blair Mountain would be to tear out a crucial page of American labor history and burn it. But even more important than the history are the lives of the people living at the foot of this mountain today.
