The Money, The Electricity, And The Mountains
Posted on July 23, 2008 | By Denny Tyler | No Comments
It was bound to happen. I’ve been thinking so much about trespassing in the mountains lately that I just had to write a little about how I feel about it.
I absolutely hate it. I grew up roaming the same mountains that I could now go to jail for being even within photo taking distance of. That is beyond insane. I have a question. How in the world did we allow an industry to own and destroy the heart of Appalachia? Most would say because we needed a job. Some would say to feed their family which means you needed the job. So let’s see – we will give the coal industry the mountains basically because that is all we have to give and they give us poor mountain folk a job in return. On top of that, when the job runs out in x amount of years the coal industry gets to keep the mountains, in a manner of speaking. I think that about sums it up. You’ll pardon me if I think we’re getting screwed. Coal mining jobs have a short lifespan, the mountains do not. I can tell you this, we do not need mountaintop removal in order to feed our families. We can do better.
I had a commenter the other day say something about me having a grudge against Massey Energy. I actually turned down a job with Massey as an electrician because I didn’t want to be a part of mountaintop removal. I don’t have a grudge against Massey directly. I do, however, have a grudge against those who facilitate mountaintop removal for short term gain. That’s all MTR is, a short term gain. We blow up a mountain, burn the coal, turn on our lights, feed the family and the we will get up and do it again tomorrow because everything from yesterday is gone, the money, the electricity, and the mountains
There used to not be boundaries in the mountains. Even private landowners are quick to give you permission to cross their property. Now you can ride an ATV a short distance, in some places, in any direction and all of the sudden you are trespassing and could go to jail for it. That invisible boundary marks the area we traded to turn on the lights and feed our families last night.
Hell, I love being out in the mountains. I thought that made me a hillbilly but apparently it makes me an environmentalist. That’s neither here nor there, but since I love to be in the mountains I see how much is lost for the short term gain of a select few. We are letting the coal industry take everything that has sustained us for forever and a day, so we can go to Burger King for a cheeseburger. Not literally, but it doesn’t really matter because it’s all going to be gone tomorrow, the money, the electricity, and the mountains.
Our remnants of wilderness will yield bigger values to the nation’s character and health than they will to its pocketbook, and to destroy them will be to admit that the latter are the only values that interest us. – Aldo Leopold
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