False Promise of Big Coal
Marsh Fork Elementary School - surrounded by silos full of dirty coal and slurry ponds.
On this edition of Earthbeat, we hear about the Appalachian elementary school that is just downhill of a massive pond of 'slurry' left behind from Mountain Top Removal mining. Host Daphne Wysham speaks to Coal River Mountain Watch's Judy Bonds, Bobby Mitchell, Lorelei Scarboo as well as Alan Johnson for Christians for the Mountains.
Mary Anne Hitt is the director of Appalachian Voices and a native to the area. She spoke passionately about the effects of coal mining on both the land, and the culture, of Appalachia. Following up on her talk at the IFG/IPS Teach-In was Jeff Goodell. He's a contributor to the New York Times magazine, and the author of Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy Future.
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Music for this edition of Earthbeat comes from Moving Mountains - an album that benefits the fight against Mountain Top Removal Mining. The first song is "The Fiddler's Ballad" by Jen Osha with Wolf Creek Session and the second is "Underneath a Blackened Moon" by Keith & Joan Pitzer.
Our theme music is Baladi by Tony Anka, Bellydance Superstars vol. 2.
Photo courtesy of Brittany Williams of Coal River Mountain Watch.