"Coal Country" premiers at WV Culture Center

The producer of the new documentary "Coal Country," Mari-Lynn Evans, talks with West Virginia Public Broadcasting on the night of the world premier in Charleston, West Virginia.

The showing had to be moved to the state Culture Center after the La Belle Theater in South Charleston cancelled its showing because of worries about violence.

But at the premier, coal miners and environmentalists watched the movie in peace, despite some heckling and booing of former Congressman Ken Hechler, D-W.Va.

We also speak with Bob Gates, a West Virginia filmmaker who worked on some of the first movies on mountaintop removal mining.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Coal Country
• Mining Protests
• MTR Mining

[mrcoder]

TAM-C analysts view this film as a potential catalyst for inspiring "direct action" protests or even sabotage against facilities, machinery, and/or corporate headquarters. Actions against these facilities would likely cause counter-protests from the pro-coal side, which TAM-C analysts believe already feels assaulted. TAM-C analysts will continue to monitor this documentary as well as the larger issue to determine whether destructive rhetoric are being planned. PA-DHS

[aaronhammond07]

No coal's clean coal. Do your research.

[Methadone4Life]

Never ceases to amaze me that some of the miners actually think the CEOs and owners of the coal companies actually give a shit about them. Sad that the union that so many of their fathers,grandfathers and family shed blood to get...is now but a memory for most. Workers rights have never been the same since Reagan and his evil action during the Air Traffic Controllers strike...virtually destroyed workers rights overnight. Why do the working class of WV vote for those who care nothing about them?

[wvprogressive1933]

But deep mining means hiring more miners, and many of those will unionize. And then they'll have to pay them more.

Wait. I don't see the downside on that one.

But I know that the operators ( like Massey) do. Paying miners and actually caring more means fewer trips to the French Riviera.

I'm not anti-coal. We just have to find ways to do it in an environmentally friendly way that is also safe for the miners.

[Methadone4Life]

I think the answer is to mine the coal but do it underground and force the billionaire coal operators like Massey and others to spend a little money to convert to clean coal technology so that the miners grandchildren might have a moderately safe world in which to live. I have more respect for coal miners than most any other occupation and I know how hard they work and the dangers they face but I also have seen what damage strip mining does(have worked on a strip)..its a tough issue for sure.

[Methadone4Life]

I think coal has a future and it can be a bright future but not if the people let the greedy coal operators misguide them into thinking that they have their best interests at heart. How quickly we forget how evil and greedy the coal operators were back then. Sure,they pay well when they are making a fortune,but let the price of coal drop and watch them layoff miners even though they could still turn profit..no,they want MAXIMUM profit. The operators only care about profit..not the miners.

[Methadone4Life]

I can see both sides but it could all be settled by just mining underground and doing away with mountaintop removal. It would mean more jobs for longer periods of employment. Mountaintop removal is the cheap and quick way to mine..employs less for a shorter period of time. I wish people could understand that. My father was a preperation plant(tipple)foreman so coal helped to feed and raise me,however,we must start to take care of our environment. Both sides need to meet in the middle.