Michael Anft provides a detailed report on the disparate views of the coal industry in the United States, focusing on the West Virginia mountains where activists are working hard to prevent coal mining by mountaintop removal methods. The article explores different activist groups' views on what should be done to solve some of the mountaintop removal processes, including some groups who completely oppose the the use of coal, some groups that don't recommend the complete stoppage of coal use but encourage exploring other alternatives to using coal, and all groups that collectively agree that mountaintop removal needs to be stopped. This article would be useful to a researcher because it provides a wide range of opinions on the mountaintop removal issue, and even includes the extreme views of both sides. A researcher would benefit from exploring the different opinions on what can be done to stop mountaintop removal and what the effects of each method would produce.
Motavalli, Jim. (2007). Once There Was a Mountain. The Environmental Magazine, 20 (2), 34-39
Motavalli discusses the effect of coal mining and mountaintop removal on the landscape, environment and people of the Kayford Mountains of West Virginia. It states that the mountains have been replaced by bare, flat, and terraced plateaus. The article also mentions the fact that coal strip mining in the Appalachian mountains has destroyed a whole culture and way of life. It informs that elevation is not included in many coal industrys' plans and that students in local elementary schools are being affected by the dust. The article also discusses various lawsuits and legislations for and against coal mining in the region. This article would be useful to a researcher because it gives specific examples of coal strip mining's destruction to the environment and people and provides true cases where the practice has devastated lives. A researcher would benefit in knowing where the practice has made it's mark in real lives to further research the people of the area, and to possibly contact the residents in the Appalachian area.
Sloan, Bob. (2007). Moving Mountains. Earth Island Journal, 22 (3), 44-47.
Bob Sloan presents information of mountaintop removal and its growth into all the northeast states. The article also discusses how mountaintop removal operations conducted in Kentucky have destroyed several important ecological and historic sites and how the constant blasting from mining sites have shifted the water table leading to the dry up of wells. This article would be useful to a researcher because it also addresses specific problems that have arose from mountaintop removal, which allows the researcher to see the problem through a microscope- how it affects a multiple aspects. A researcher could also look further into how far the consequences of mountaintop removal actually go.
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