What's Going On?
What's the Problem?
Environmentalists want to end mountaintop removal mining (mtr), a form of surface mining that blasts off the tops of mountains to access the seams of coal within. Below is a video of an mtr blast.Mtr miners and their supporters want to keep mining despite the affects it has on the land and the health of people who work and live near mtr sites.
End mountaintop removal mining and surface miners are out of jobs and must find a new way to support themselves and their family. Continue mountaintop removal mining and mothers give birth to children with genetic defects. Cancer rates continue to increase, and families lose their homes to rock-slides and flooding.
What's the Solution?
There is no perfect solution to solving the mountaintop removal mining problem. There will never be a winner in this fight, but a "better" solution is education.Education got me involved in the mountaintop removal mining advocacy movement. I learned about mtr because of a Legal Writing research paper, and now I am using the media skills I have learned in Writing for Nonprofits to create awareness for this cause.
Who does this affect?
Mining for coal is a cultural paradigm in Appalachia, and it's damn near impossible to change a culture. Just ask Elise Keaton, the new fundraising director for the Keeper of the Mountains foundation. Keeper of the Mountains is a non-profit that aims to protect the Appalachian mountains and the people of Appalachia through education and environmental activism.
Elise, a native West Virginian, was put in her position by the original Keeper, Larry Gibson. Gibson passed away in September 2012 of a heart attack at his home, Kayford Mountain. Gibson was shot at, arrested on multiple occasions, and ostracized in his community because of Kayford, but he believed in this fight. The land he lived on is worth a large sum of money to the coal industry, but Larry didn't want to lose his beloved Kayford Mountain to mtr.
Gibson recruited Elise to the anti-mtr cause because he saw a spark in her. This fiery blonde with a West Virginia draw understands the coal culture: “I’m a Constitution carryin’ union worker’s daughter. I believe in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness just like the rest of ‘em," Elise said these words to me as we walked across a ridge that exposed a moonscape that was once a mountaintop. “I have nothin’ but respect for people that work to support their family, but when your rights infringe on mine, that’s when we have a problem.”
In this audio story, Elise Keaton, the fundraising director for the Keeper of the Mountains foundation discusses what motivates her to keep fighting for this cause. The rights that Elise is talking about are one's right to clean water and right to clean air. Many Appalachians are drinking traces of selenium and even arsenic when they get a shower or pour themselves a glass of tap water. They're breathing in mercury and other carcinogens when they walk out for the mail or drive to the store with their windows down. Exposure to these pollutants causes astronomical medical bills and the lowest life expectancy rates in the country.
Why is this important?
The friends of mtr don't want to hear that the companies that sign their paychecks are also signing their death warrants. People, especially those of my generation, are processing the consequences of mountaintop removal mining, though. "The young people get it, Aimee" Elise sighed heavily, "They understand why this is important." Elise and I had this conversation as we studied a reclamation site. I use the term reclamation loosely. What the coal company calls reclaimed, I call a half-assed attempt at re-birth. The former active mining site looked more like a Christmas tree farm in July than a future habitat for animals. Besides the wind, the land was silent. "How many birds do you hear, Aimee?" "None," I replied. The silence broke my heart. I'm a hiker and spend my weekends in Shenandoah National Park. I see bears forage for berries, deer frolic in meadows, and birds chirp in lush green trees. This place was different. Since I got off the interstate earlier that day, this place reminded me of death, and I witnessed the wounds that caused that death: the razed mountains and the dirty water, plus the sad town that surrounded it all.
When will there be a solution?
Mountaintop removal mining is a wicked problem. Poverty is a wicked problem and so is cancer. War is a wicked problem too. Wicked problems are problems that don't go away. "Solutions to wicked problems are not right or wrong. They are simple 'better,' 'worse,' 'good enough,' or 'not good enough,'" Jeff Conklin, a non-profit scholar stated this in his article "Wicked Problems & Social Complexity."
Education is a "better" solution when it comes to mountaintop removal mining. The Keepers family realizes that everyone can't visit Appalachia, so they brought their message to the road, traveling across the country to educate our nation’s college-aged youth about this form of mining. Connecticut, Kentucky, and North Carolina are just some of the states that Keepers speakers have visited as a part of their On the Road Again program.
At On the Road Again speeches, representatives for Keepers tell personal stories to educate listeners about how coal affects the mountains, streams, ecology, health, and heritage of the area. The speakers hope that their stories inspire listeners to take action: action like sharing statuses about mountaintop removal mining on Facebook, unplugging a laptop charger from the wall when the computer has a full charge, and e-mailing politicians.
I attended an On the Road Again speech at JMU in January 2013. If interested, please read my blog post about the experience. The On the Road Again speech, as Keepers hoped it would, drove me to action: I've shared mtr-related Facebook statuses, I now unplug my laptop charger from the wall when my computer has a full charge, and I've e-mailed my congressperson and President Obama. I also joined a photo-petition organized by an environmental legal non-profit called Earth Justice.
When I started researching mountaintop removal mining, the first thing I discovered was this photo-petition. After reading about the topic, I submitted my photo and story.
This petition was innovative. Instead of signing at the bottom of a long list of names, I uploaded a picture and a short description on why I support the mountains, and I was 1 of over 13,000 people who signed the mountain heroes photo-petition. Other famous mountain heroes include Woody Harrelson, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Larry Gibson. The personal and educational stories that encourage mountaintop removal mining awareness take many forms:What's Next?
E-day—it’s upon us, and the "e" is for education. Mountaintop removal mining may be a wicked problem, but if enough people become educated on the issue—through word-of-mouth or social media—these educated citizens will vote for politicians who believe in a sustainable future, a sustainable future that also helps any displaced surface miners transition to a new, healthier career.
Those who want to see an end to mtr aren't arming our listeners with weapons, we’re arming them with knowledge. Education is power. Our arsenal includes personal narrative, supported by peer-reviewed studies, disseminated through the internet. Our strategy for a better solution? The pen is mightier than the sword, and so are viral videos, photography, and protest music. Thanks to what I've learned in the Writing, Rhetoric and Technical communication graduate program as well as Writing for Nonprofits, I understand how I can help Elise and the rest of the Keepers family create a bigger audience.
Click here if you want to help the Keeper of the Mountains foundation. If you like this post, please share it with others in the media channel(s) you wish: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, your own blog, whatever really. Keep resisting, friends. Sources
- In-person Interview with Elise Keaton, fundraising director for the Keeper of the Mountains foundation
- "Wicked Problems & Social Complexity" by Jeff Conklin
Keep up the great work fighting the good fight Aim!
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