As a child, my family would take a vacation once a year by driving from Canada down to South Carolina. One of the best parts of our trip was passing through West Virgina and seeing the beautiful mountains awash in fall colors. Our eyes would search for, and find deer leaping on the hills. West Virginia is a place of breathtaking beauty. There is nothing more sacred or permanent than a mountain. How could a mountain die?
Now I've discovered that in order to extract even more coal, more cheaply, the Appalacian Mountains and communities the live there are being destroyed by a new form of coal mining: Mountain Top Removal. These mountains are being destroyed forever. Toxins from the mining then run downstream to anyone further south in the water supply.
It makes me think of what is happening in Canada in Northern Alberta with the Tar Sands. The Tar Sands are also a relatively new form of oil extraction that literally chew up the Boreal Forest - the lungs of the world. Like Mountain Top Removal, the Tar Sands are permanently destroying land the size of the state of Florida for cheap oil. They are poisoning and destroying the way of life of Canada's First Nations Peoples, causing cancers, devastating fresh water supplies, and taking away from all life this beautiful land. These two tragedies are connected to two very unsustainable forms of energy: oil and coal.
Meanwhile in Fukushima, Japan another form of energy - nuclear power is connected to the permanent destruction of land. Nuclear waste has leaked onto the precious land in Japan, causing an evacuation. In all cases, our need for these resources has reached the very soil and earth we need to survive on is being destroyed. Since we all need land, this is destroying life in the long term. Across the world, we people must be united in our call for safe Renewable Energy such as wind and solar. And we must empower one another in our communities to speak up for justice and live more simply, but more happily.
Renewable energy and living more simply are very simple solutions to protecting this beautiful earth. And to respecting the people who have lived on this land for generations. Do we really need a thousand electronic devices rather than a happy healthy planet and justice for its citizens?
Here's an important video on how we can stop Mountain Top Removal. I would also add that reducing our electricity consumption will also take the pressure off this earth that belongs to all past, present, and future generations of animals and people.
Clayton Thomas Muller on the Devastating Consequences of the Tar Sands:
I spent the first 15 years of my life living and roaming in the hills of West Virginia. They are the fondest memories that I have, a past that I have past down to my children and grandchildren.
ReplyDeleteBut to think that it is being devastated like this is beyond belief, I know how they feel when they see the plumes of dust rise up after an explosion and the trees and wild life are gone.
I also know that some will be saying it is only trees, we need the coal for heat and electricity that is more important. In time all the trees will be gone then you will have nothing but a dead earth to live on, if you can call it living.
And no thought is being given to those that live around the mountains that are being devastated. They are of little concern to the multimillion dollar companies and their shareholders that only are concerned about their return on shares owned.
The day will come when all will suffer from the mistakes that a few have made, this includes the government and the greed of those in office.
So keep spreading the news and don't give up, God Bless you for your efforts.
Ron Snyder
Ron, Thanks so much for your story. What could bring more sanity and joy than the hills of West Virgina, and what is more devastating to think of this scale of destruction - permanent damage to what means the most. Humanity must start to realize that a few extra years of a warm indoors followed by an eternity of a broken ecosystem is trading life for rubles. I really appreciate your message!
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