Monday, July 23, 2007

Missing Mountains

Many years ago, I traveled from Joplin to the eastern half of Tennessee for spring break. Yeah. I know. Not your idea of a spring break hot spot. It wasn't then, either. Still, it was up in the mountains. The asphalt on the roads had turned green from ore smelting in the area. Copper ore, I think. The elderly couple we stayed with had a great home up where the mountain violets bloomed in the night time fog that settled over the mountain tops. From their porch, you could see the pond that they formed to hide the coal from nosy corporate types.

After watching the introductory video at iLoveMountains.org, I wonder if their home, their lake, their mountain top survived these thirty-five years. It seems that coal mining is more active today than it has been for a while. The quick, efficient, cheap way to mine the coal is to blow the tops off the mountains, shove the debris in the valleys, and forget that nature, people, environment are there; forget that thought is required before major surgery. Such actions are damaging the environment, including water supplies that are used down stream.

Go to http://www.footprintnetwork.org/download.php?id=104 for yourself and view the first video on the page.

--Robert

4 comments:

Paul Miller said...

Robert great article. I has visited there myself.

Heather said...

This is very interesting Robert. Not something you would usually hear or learn about. I hope all is well with the family you stayed with.

Unknown said...

WOW Robert...good article... you did a good job explaning it!!

Unknown said...

WOW Robert...good article...you did a good job explaning everything about it.

 
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