Added: 5 years ago
From: blueathena
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  • What a sad bunch of do-nothing whiners. Do nothing, keep arguing and watch the beauty of this planet being raped for KING PROFIT!

  • ...well you can thank the U.S. govt for this pall-'maul' mining ops:When Clinton shut-down further expansion of coal extraction in Utah/Wyoming(for his pal Ryoti over in the colossus Indonesian Coal whole-island removal payola parlay). This shifted the western U.S. coal extraction focus back to the Smokey Mountain States & guys like NYC mayor Bloomberg who shut-down NYC coal power(a fake 'green' phony-op)forcing up-state hydro-power down to NYC: causing Western NYState to now expand coal power!

  • Mountain Top Removal....PREVENTS FOREST FIRES!!:-).

    Coal keeps the lights on!!!!!

  • @TheDirtWarriors

    dumbass rednecks prevent literacy

  • Being raised from Harlan,co I've seen this change and breaks my heart!In my mind and heart this was God's country and even the old minning didn't destroy the land and waters like this is doing!Thanks for sharing!

  • GOD MADE IT.How can man ever remake it?

  • It saddens me to see this...I just hope they dont plan on using it to develop city crap.

  • Strip malls and prisons ....

  • @1rewd1 Just what the world needs more of.....

  • Elk grazing on the toxic remnants of a once proud mountain and healthy ecosystem is not progress nor even desirable. I do believe, Mr.Turner, that if the Statue of Liberty were located in WV you would call for it to be melted down to sell the copper.

    Luckily the days are numbered for your blight.

    GOD cries at your ignorance.

  • I live in these mountains as well, well, what's becoming left of them.I've seen your older reclaimed sites and they are nothing to be proud of. They are unnatural, destroy the vistas and most importantly, and as stated above, they continue to pollute for ETERNITY.

    How many of our precious natural resources are to be permanently destroyed for the sake of this malevolent and abusive extraction method?How many communities and lives are to be degraded and destroyed?

  • After "reclaiming" it looks like an alien landing site. Plus it permanently destroys habitat as well as natural beauty ... and pollutes for eternity.

    Your ignorance is blinding.

    GOD cries at mountaintop destruction

  • If God didn't want us to do it, then he wouldn't have given us the technology to do it!

  • God didn't GIVE us technology to DO it. Yes, if you want to put religion in it, you can say God gave us the MIND to create technology, but HE also GAVE us MINDFULNESS to be respectful of our environment, other humans, nature and wildlife. We would do BEST to use the technology we can create to utilize renewable resources, and wind & solar energy. This kind of respectful would best HONOR the GOD who gave us our minds to create good technology.

  • Man's technology, not God's

    God gave man the mind to come up with this abomination ... the same mind that should tell us it's wrong.

  • Isn't it said somewhere in the bible that in the end, the valley's will be filled??? Think about it!

  • @fuckyamountains

    Valleys filled in such a way that it is not only a detriment to the natural wildlife but also to the health of the people who live in the surrounding areas? The streams in those valleys contaminated with coal dust and sludge, then they go down to the wells, where families get their drinking water... And thus become sick. And all the while coal company administration deny the connections of sickness and will not take responsibility.

  • @fuckyamountains And no, that phrasing "the valleys will be filled" is more a metaphor for the empty feeling (valley) of the soul will be filled with God's love.

  • @fuckyamountains I can't believe you even have the balls to say that. Seems like God would have just said, "Take all these mountains and blast them apart and destroy the land and the homes of your neighbors. Poison the water and the children.  I didn't mean to put those mountains there anyways. My mistake."

  • @fuckyamountains God doesn't have any say in what we do. Just like how he sits idly by why innocent people suffer. Stupid redneck.

  • what's the name of the band?

  • This video, shows before mining...and during mining....but no after mining and reclaimation is done...wonder why??? Probably cause it would discredit this video.

  • you will never be able to restore that land to it's original.. natural..state

  • several of the images were after reclamation. Giant green fields of useless grass and no topsoil.

  • Nope, from what Ive seen they are "reclaimed" if you can call them that. Most reclaimed sites are a joke anyways.

    Of the estimated 14 million acres mined by MTR, only 1-5% of that is being used for developmental purposes, which kills the whole, we need flat land argument.

    I live in the heart of mining country, and I have seen far worse reclaimed sites than the ones showed here.

  • the "after" pictures are really of active mines. THEY ARE NOT RECLAIMED YET

  • and by reclaimed you mean grass seed thrown down.

  • Good video. I think the problem isn't the coal mining . It's the fact that this method is so destructive. I don't think a corporation should be able to destroy the livelihood of everyone around them so that they can make a profit. We need the energy but there has to be a better way than this. We are screwing our kids by letting this continue.

  • This song is wonderful, almost made me cry. Thank you for posting this video.

  • Yes, the true AFTER is even worse. Unfortunately, mountaintop removal is not clean nor is it healthy for the people who live nearby. People are dying, cancer rates are soaring, health is POOR, water is completely undrinkable and nobody is doing anything to clean up the mess. I have seen the pitiful "reclamation" attempts in WV. These will never be mountains again, nor grow much at all, particularly not the hardwood forests that have been completely destroyed. Real renewable energy is the answer.

  • Yes, the true AFTER is even worse. Unfortunately, mountaintop removal is not clean nor is it healthy for the people who live nearby. People are dying, cancer rates are soaring, health is POOR, water is completely undrinkable and nobody is doing anything to clean up the mess. I have seen the pitiful "reclamation" attempts in WV. These will never be mountains again, nor grow much at all, particularly not the hardwood forests that have been completely destroyed. Real renewable energy is the answer.

  • Almost level West Virginia

    Miners Lady, polluted water

    Life is odd there We don't have a tree

    Mountain top removal, valley filled with ease

    The worst trade for a few jobs we ever made.

    The only worse trade is when we traded small pox to the indians for food.

  • it's so heartbroken to see these mountains destoryed just for coal. There must be a better way..... From an early age, I always wanted to visit West Virginia, to hike in the mountains. John Denver's song "take me home, country road" was the only thing I knew about west virginia "life is old, older than the trees, younger than the mountains...." But I may never be able to see the beauties if I don't do it soon.

  • I understand what you're saying blueathena! I grew up and live here myself! We're just not seeing the after effects of reclaimed property the same way! I'm a very open minded person and have looked at both sides of the coin all my life. By the way our well had better water, (tested), than any treated city water anywhere! I'm not trying to get into any kind of hateful argument with you! I also have an opinion and along with that sometimes a very big mouth! HaHa..

  • Check out (kentuckycoa) to see the real truth! People who don't live there or have any ties there have these opinions mostly from what they saw in a video or some photos and they're the same people who believe everything the news tells them! It's TV It has to be true... Right? Wrong!!! What is it about you people that you only want to show the negative side of most everything? Why is it always the negative side of the storey?

  • I'm living here in the midst of it. I have met the old folks and hard-working folks in E. Kentucky and WV and SW VA. Yeah, I know them. I know them well. I know and have seen the problems. I have seen the devastation done to the earth, people's homes, people's lifestyles, children's schools, etc.

  • There's two sides to every story, I agree, but there's got to a way to not destroy this land and yet use it reasonably. I have seen this so-called "reclaimed land." Nothing but foreign grasses grow on it. Nothing native and useful to the area and wildlife grows on it.

  • A man named Jim Booth, one of several Eastern Ky & WV coal mine owners has spent money on building shopping centers and retail stores among other money making business that actually flourished, made him money and guess what else it caused! Jobs were created and it brought willing people in the area at least a little more out of poverty or better.

  • Do you power your home or business or recreation with any electricity that comes from coal burning power plants? I know and am related to people who work for coal mines and have for years and they still have a job! A lot of the money does stay in the area and if a community is willing it will create other opportunities there!

  • The point is not to say that coal mining is wrong. The point is to say that Mountain Top Removal is wrong. That Not providing health benefits and assistance to coal miners (not just providing, but not making it difficult to receive!) is wrong.  That clogging up the headwaters of many of our valuable streams which feed into the larger rivers is wrong.

  • I remember some time ago when the dam of a huge slush pond broke away and yes it ruined the creeks and streams and a couple rivers for quite some time. The mine went bankrupt over the law suits and fines which I believe they should have but the mess was cleaned up which is another reason they went bankrupt. My point is that the water in the area was pretty much ruined for quite some time only because a mine wasn't monitored enough or it never would have happened.

  • In order to understand how bad MTR is, one's got to understand the effects it has on the region ecologically, culturally, and economically. ALL of those must be a major concern, not just one.

  • My grandfather was the first president of the Ky Farm Bureau because he figured out how to treat the soil not with chemicals but with calcium, potassium, lime, etc that turned his farm into one of the richest in the state. At first they all called him crazy and irresponsible for doing that to the land but when they saw how rich the soil turned out and the KFB was then being formed they appointed him as the president.

  • Who is going to give up their so called provisions in life that we all have had and only seen luxuries get better and easier to obtain through the years? Most of those luxuries make us weaker! Remember the days before air conditioning? I do! Have you ever been to those areas in Easter Ky or WV? I mean actually stopped and visited with the people? Have you ever seen a strip mine years after it was reclaimed?kentuckycoal com I've seen it all up close and in person!

  • "Have you ever been to those areas in Easter Ky or WV?"

    Yes. I have spent all of April, May, and a chunk of June in these areas for work. I have seen and visited with people in these areas. And you're right about the news: we shouldn't believe FOX, CNN, etc. But talking to the people in the area gives one the correct perspective, the truth.

  • "Have you ever seen a strip mine years after it was reclaimed?"

    So-called "reclaimed." Foreign grass? Making the mountains prairie land, aren't we? Reclaimed with federal corrections facilities and golf courses? Mass business chain consumerism/capitalism wiping out locally-owned businesses? Reclaimed is a negative word here.

  • I grew up in Eastern Ky! This planet isn't so different than a living, breathing thing! We eat, drink and do things every day that are bad for our bodies which can and do put us in an early grave. This planet is going to die one day just like every living breathing thing does! Death is a fact and a part of life for all of us! There are many ways we could be causing the early demise of earth.

  • But is that to say we shouldn't be concerned that we're causing our earth to have an early death?

    Would you force a loved one to eat greasey food every day until they had a heart attack, saying oh well, that's life and death?

    It is about owning up and taking responsibility for the health of this earth.

  • I've been up in the active mines of Martin county, Ky. Martiki, Pontiki, etc. some of the larger mines. On is a deep mine. I've also seen them from the air! They are taking up a small part of the land and the land is useful again after reclamation is finished! I've seen cattle grazing, crops, etc. I don't know which reclaimed mines you've been to but I lived among several and people farm a lot of them!

  • everyday, in all kinds of way, we do destructive things to the planet & call it progress to the point where progress should be considered a "dirty" word. In small & not so small ways we are reminded that we live in system- mess with it & payback is inevitable- streams with no fish because of run off, flooding because the plant-life that slowed the water is gone...there will be something. The folks who profit from it all will call it progress...

  • yeah, progress for the rich coal companies who do not drink the dirty water from faucets in coal mining communities, do not live in a house in the midst of a mountaintop removal site where blasting on the mountain cause the foundation of his new house to crack, and do not see the numbers of people who used to have jobs but since MTR came in, they no longer have work. Its a real shame.

  • in the great historybook of this planet, humans will be noted as big spoilers of this beautifull world, we have to stop wasting and build a future for our children before it's too late! I dig your message, Dudean

  • Interesting....Cool video work

  • I live in the foothils of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I think my soul would literally die to see them destroyed.

  • I'm struck by the resemblance of mountaintop removal to skin cancers.

    It's no consolation to know that the beauty of the earth will gradually be restored once we're extinct, over the course of millions of years. Because none of us will live to see it. If we wish to see a beautiful land, we've got to care for it while we're here.

  • This was truely touching. I don't live near the mountains so seeing such beauty is never taken for granted. It's a shame to see them destroyed. May mankind find the wisdom to save what it cannot replace.

    Thanks for sharing.

    Pookie

  • I'm lucky to live in the Blue Ridge Mts., and grateful for the beauty I see every day. Sadly, this is not possible in some places, where the residents are so poor that they gladly accept the many negative things that come with the arrival of the mining companies. If your family is starving, it's easy to overlook what you're losing when the mountains are destroyed. As a result, there is little local opposition. But once the mountains are gone, and the coal runs out, so do the jobs.

  • True. The desire to get by sometimes leads us to make the wrong descissions, ones that can never be undone.

  • actually, there is a lot of opposition in the coalfields from families (poor and working class). At least a lot of the activity in Kentucky is beating on the door at Frankfort. Some small changes are working their way in.

    As for jobs... Mountaintop Removal does NOT provide more jobs. The coal companies say that it does, but it actually decreases the number of jobs.

  • until they have robots doing these jobs instead of people. I would imagine that it actually does create jobs....

  • The people who were skilled in strip mining or deep mining lose their jobs to people who are trained to run the machinery that helps Mountaintop Removal. The number of employees it takes to blow up a mountaintop and get at the coal beneath is than the number it takes to strip mine or deep mine. So yes, people lose jobs. And in an area of already extremely LOW economic status because big coal companies and the such rape the land and the people, this does not help matters.

  • The number of employees it takes to blow up a mountaintop and get at the coal beneath is LESS than the number it takes to strip mine or deep mine. So yes, people lose jobs. (sorry, left out an important word there as I was typing!)

  • then you should be more specific in what you say. you may be correct, it may provide less jobs when compared to an underground mine (although I doubt it)

    "Mountaintop Removal does NOT provide more jobs. The coal companies say that it does, but it actually decreases the number of jobs."

    you failed to state, "when compared to underground mines"...

  • (continued) The money that profits from coal production does not go back to WV's or KY's economy but the large coal companies that are headquartered outside the state. So... it seems to me that if you're interested in this, read some more on the matter.

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