The Last Mountain

[Click for a larger view.]

The mother of all environmental problems is the climate-change issue. It is very real; it is happening today; and at the core of the problem is coal.

Gus Speth, former dean, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, quoted in The Last Mountain

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The epicenter of the climate-change battle in the United States is Appalachian coal, and the epicenter of the battle around Appalachian coal is Coal River Mountain.

Allen Hershkowitz, Senior Scientist, Natural Resources Defense Council, also quoted in The Last Mountain

The documentary The Last Mountain (dir. Bill Haney, 2011) tells the story of West Virginians’ fight against mountaintop removal mining, a technology with catastrophic consequences for the environment and human health. In this film, the line between what’s wrong and what’s right is clear. Greed, corporate lobbying, and utter disregard for the well-being of West Virginia’s people are amply on display. (Meet Don Blankenship.) But there’s hope too, in the promise of wind power and in the efforts of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and a host of dedicated citizens and environmental activists. Among them: Susan Bird, Maria Gunnoe, Jennifer Hall-Massey, Lorelei Scarbro, David Aaron Smith, Bo Webb, and Ed Wiley. Their names are as important to note as those of the better-known figures. Watch Ed Wiley stand up to West Virginia’s then-governor Joe Manchin: we should all have such courage.

Read more
The Last Mountain (the film’s website)

[This film serves as a nice reminder that giving money to the candidate, not the party, can be a smarter choice. That a contribution to the Democratic National Committee might help the likes of Joe Manchin makes me cringe.]