One man's fight against mountaintop removal

Change is not painless. We can't continue to destroy ourselves because it's easier to rape the earth and our neighbors as we have been for years. No good will come of that.

Yea i know but i sure wish there was an easier way . Life is hard what ever you chose to do today. I guess it going to get harder for some. i kind of look at the same way I do at the Local shrimping it was good it was it was gone all in a short time of about sixty or so years.

I do look at it from the miner's side bailey, and they have been trapped in this lose/lose equation for as long as big companies have been mining coal. It is no mistake that West Virginian's don't have other employment options, this is a situation that has been covertly orchestrated by the people they elect to represent them. Their Senators and Congressmen sell their labor and lives to the interests of big coal by consistently voting against industry, education and the kind of development in this state that would give the coal miners the power and choices to say, "take this job and shove it"

Until people become aggressively involved in the process of determining whose name goes on the ballot, their choices are nothing but an illusion of choice, and this is what makes me so damn mad about WVA, they could have better lives and better choices, but their politicians work to keep them enslaved, and then turn around and pretend that they care. The Hell! All WVA politicians care about is the dollar bills coming their way via the grateful slave-master coal company.

Don't be shy now tell Me how you really feel. I can handle it don't worry It's nothing i haven't heard already. So go ahead and let all out. Oh yea! I agree with you 100% The problem is How are they going to change things? They can vote for whoever they want. They choose to vote for coal. well Ok all but a select few that know whats going on.

We can make almost anything at all we need from trees. Food, housing, clothing, plastics, fuel----tens of thousands of products. Before coal---the eastern financial robber barons promised the people of Appalachia great wealth for their trees. They came and cut down all the trees. Then took the wealth and left. Then they promised the people of Appalachia great wealth from coal. They took the coal, and they took the wealth and they have left. And the people of Appalachia are left with almost nothing except the meager dole they get digging up the coal for the rich robber barons who have left to live in mansions and sail on yachts.

Well, trees grow back. Properly managed, there will always be forests. Take some trees, leave some trees, and plant new seedlings to replace the trees that were taken. There will always be forests.

But you can't get trees to grow on a strip mine. You must have topsoil to get trees to grow.