When we turn on the air conditioner this summer, few of us will think about mountain forests and the streams that drain them. We simply want to be cool. But, air conditioning comes at a cost to the central Appalachian Mountains.
In this region, more than 2.5 million acres are covered by coal mines. Their bounty fuels power plants that generate electricity. And the dominant mining method involves blowing up mountains. Briefly, with mountain-top-removal mining, mountain tops are leveled using explosives, and the rubble is deposited in adjacent valleys, burying the streams that drain them.
To date, nearly 1,200 miles of Appalachian streams have been buried by mountain-top-removal mining. Runoff from these areas contains toxic levels of pollutants, such selenium, impairing aquatic life for miles downstream and rendering drinking water unsafe. And a recent survey found that water pollution persists for decades following reclamation attempts.
Mountain-top-removal mining employs far fewer people than traditional mining. But efforts to stop it are often portrayed as “jobs versus environment.” We should recast the dilemma as “jobs today, versus an uncertain tomorrow.” Once coal has been stripped from these valleys, and profits have vanished, residents will be left with dead streams, a blighted environment, and an uncertain future.
Our insatiable demand for cheap electricity fuels mountain-top-removal mining. We can make a difference by demanding renewable energy and remembering to turn off the lights.
Photo, taken on January 1, 2004 using a Kodak DX7630 Zoom, courtesy of Laura Heller via Flickr.