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Plundering Appalachia: The Tragedy of Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining
The Appalachian mountain range is the oldest in the world and it's disappearing one mountain top at a time. Plundering Appalachia takes a bold look at the out-of-control strip mining in the American heartland and its threat to our environment.
The Appalachians are the oldest mountains in the world, and they are literally disappearing. The term “mountaintop removal mining,” coined to describe the coal-mining process currently at work in much of Appalachia, is in reality, exactly what the name a mountain, formed over millions of years, is decapitated with explosives—the “overburden” scraped into adjacent valleys—and the exposed coal collected. No living thing survives this “removal,” and if the land is replanted, its ecosystem will be nothing like that of the ancient mountaintop it previously held. The process is not only destructive and toxic, but ultimately not one of the four hundred plus mountains blasted has yet grown back.
Plundering Appalachia is a collection of photographs and essays presenting the grim realities of mountaintop removal
The effects of the blasting on the environment and the people and animals in its wake.
The irreversible devastation of the natural landscape of Appalachia.
How mountaintop removal is or is not regulated
The true costs of the practice over time.
Most people in the United States are connected to mountaintop removal in some way. Even if they have never visited the Appalachians, they consume products derived from the mining haul or they are affected by the drastic changes the mining has on their ecosystem. The contributors to Plundering Appalachia clearly wish to empower a nation to action—to get past the rhetoric of the coal industry and see the real Appalachia. It is a plea for a region whose natural beauty deserves to be enjoyed by future generations.
Includes essays David W. Orr, Vivian Stockman, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Ross Gelbspan, Richard Heinberg, Carl Pope, Denise Giardina, Lisa Evans, Ken Hechler, Jerry Hardt, Wendell Berry and more.
The Appalachians are the oldest mountains in the world, and they are literally disappearing. The term “mountaintop removal mining,” coined to describe the coal-mining process currently at work in much of Appalachia, is in reality, exactly what the name a mountain, formed over millions of years, is decapitated with explosives—the “overburden” scraped into adjacent valleys—and the exposed coal collected. No living thing survives this “removal,” and if the land is replanted, its ecosystem will be nothing like that of the ancient mountaintop it previously held. The process is not only destructive and toxic, but ultimately not one of the four hundred plus mountains blasted has yet grown back.
Plundering Appalachia is a collection of photographs and essays presenting the grim realities of mountaintop removal
The effects of the blasting on the environment and the people and animals in its wake.
The irreversible devastation of the natural landscape of Appalachia.
How mountaintop removal is or is not regulated
The true costs of the practice over time.
Most people in the United States are connected to mountaintop removal in some way. Even if they have never visited the Appalachians, they consume products derived from the mining haul or they are affected by the drastic changes the mining has on their ecosystem. The contributors to Plundering Appalachia clearly wish to empower a nation to action—to get past the rhetoric of the coal industry and see the real Appalachia. It is a plea for a region whose natural beauty deserves to be enjoyed by future generations.
Includes essays David W. Orr, Vivian Stockman, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Ross Gelbspan, Richard Heinberg, Carl Pope, Denise Giardina, Lisa Evans, Ken Hechler, Jerry Hardt, Wendell Berry and more.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 11, 2015
I really liked this anthology. It's a great coffee table book, and it contains pictures and interviews with the people who have suffered from mountaintop-removal mining. The first hand accounts are pretty moving, to say the least. Erik Reece and Wendell Berry contributed to the compilation of this work, and were able to inject a bit of humor into a topic that is too tragic to wrap your mind around. I also enjoyed reading about the efforts activists have made to put a stop to this practice. Their passion is helping give the issue of mountaintop-removal a voice nationally. This is a great, informative read, and is thorough without being heavy. It's not the kind of thing you pick up because you want to be entertained on a Saturday night, but if you are interested in environmental issues, this is an excellent reference.
May 20, 2014
A book that every Congressman and Senator in America should read, and then ask themselves . . . "how did we ever let this happen?". If you want to read one book about the environmental, ecological, political and social catastrophe of mountaintop removal coal mining, this is the one. A masterwork. It will break your heart and make your blood boil.
November 25, 2012
A frightening book.
There is no way mountaintop mining should be allowed.
It pollutes streams, destroys mountains, kills watersheds and devastates communities.
It's beyond time to end this madness.
There is no way mountaintop mining should be allowed.
It pollutes streams, destroys mountains, kills watersheds and devastates communities.
It's beyond time to end this madness.
September 14, 2016
The photographs were stunning, but there was too little meat to this book on a very serious topic. I was more moved after reading John Grisham's Gray Mountain.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews