Posted 9 September 2007:
I saw on PBS (public broadcasting service) television on about 6 Sept. 2007 a very worrisome documentary about coal mining in West Virginia.
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The documentary showed extremely large "steam shovels" digging off the tops of some of the oldest mountains in America and destroying
all vegetation and exposing the bedrock and soil to erosion and runoff of heavy metals such as selenium and arsenic into the streams
that then run into rivers. The heavy metal pollution also was getting into the ground water so that residents' wells were polluted and
causing undoubtedly higher levels of cancer and probably mutations in babies. The water when mixed with a PH color indicator in Pepto Bismol
(normally pink) caused the water solution to turn black (have you ever seen this?).
There was an excerpt of a mine owner who lived in a large house perched on the top of a mountain (above all the pollution) who some years
ago said something like this: "capitalism is best because those companies that are less productive will perish while those more
productive will thrive" - so in the short term he is "raping and pillaging" the land to give economic reward to his company and his family
but he is fundamentally not working in the interests of his company in the long-term. In fact, we can argue that his company is not
the most productive as the effects of pollution (the costs) will take decades if not centuries to diminish and all the while will
cost or degrade the environment and the business climate and make the region less attractive to growth. Who wants to look at a muddy
hill without vegetation (it seems to be toxic to new growth) where mudslides and toxic rivers flow in the land of the beautiful?
It seems to me that West Virginia has not gained from mining as the level of education and economic development are well known to be
lagging compared to many or most places in USA. I think that West Virginia is inherently a beautiful area that could have more tourists
and that small companies would like to establish there if it were not so polluted.
It is unfortunate that the Executive branch of President Bush agreed to this type of mining practice that just takes off the tops
of hills and seems to let the pollution seep away to destroy the whole region near the mines. There should be more regulation and
limits to the mining, raising the costs, and causing the mine owner in the documentary to operate his company under the true economic picture. His company is in fact
not productive but counter-productive in my view as Society and America will have to pay dearly long after his company is
gone because it was sued by future citizens of West Virginia and had to pay for cleanup.
It appears that many Christians are joining forces with environmentalists to try and regulate this coal mining and pollution generation.
Some in the Christian community are asking would God or Jesus approve of this type of mining where the land is laid to waste
and toxins released to plague man? It seems from my knowledge of the Bible that they would not, nor would any religious leader in the
past (or present). It seems to me morally wrong to kill all life on the earth where the mining occurs just for the short-term
benefit of a few so-called owners. These owners do not have the right to own this land, and certainly not to destroy it, this should not be
part of the contract.
Here is a link to a website by the Christian Science Monitor discussing or presenting this problem:
Flattening mountains in West Virginia
And some more good sites:
Millions of acres of pristine land is literally being blown to bits
MOYERS ON AMERICA: IS GOD GREEN?
Comments:
Comments to Bill Moyers PBS Documentary
It seems all Senators have websites in the form: http://lastname.senate.gov/
all Representatives in the House have websites in the form: http://www.house.gov/lastname/