Mountaintop Removal Site in West Virginia

I have long been an fan of using art to inspire people to make a difference. Film, music, theater and beyond can make issues that once seemed too big to comprehend understandable and put a face on statistics and figures.

Additionally, I have long been an advocate against mountaintop removal. I spent many of my childhood summers playing in the mountains of Appalachia. The inherent beauty of the area is juxtaposed by the crippling poverty of many of its residents, making the issue of mountaintop removal an incredibly complicated one. I have written about the subject before, hosted a screening of the compelling Haw River Film documentary Mountaintop Removal and raised money for Pennies of Promise. So, when my friends asked me if I wanted to go to a benefit show for I Love Mountains, I responded with an enthusiastic yes.

Dear Companion

It did not matter to me whether or not the artists were talented, I was happy to spend an evening out with like-minded people and support anyone who was dedicating their time to this issue that is so close my heart. However, not only are the artists that make up Dear Companion talented, they are gifted beyond words.  Ben Sollee plays the cello at times like a stand up bass, at times like a percussion instrument, and Daniel Martin Moore creates amazing music with guitars and banjos. I purchased their CD after the show and realized that Jim James (or Yim Yames) of My Mourning Jacket produced it. A portion of proceeds from the tour and the CD are going to I Love Mountains, so really, there is no reason why anyone should not buy this beautiful CD.

Mountaintop Removal is an issue that effects the entire country, not just those in Appalachia. In addition to the various toxins traditional coal mining releases into the environment, coal-fired power plants shorten nearly 24,000 lives a year in the United States, including 2,800 from lung cancer. Mountaintop Removal is a particularly ugly aspect of an already speckled industry, which involves removing the top or summit of a mountain through explosion. This process causes large amounts of stone, called flyrock, to hurl through the air uncontrollably, which have been responsible for the destruction of property and even death.

Mountaintop Removal sites are required to rebuild the summits of the mining sites (although, as documented by the movie Mountaintop Removal, coal companies are able to apply for waivers), but “rebuilding” involves dumping soil and planting trees, which amounts to a quick fix. Piling soil in any given area is not the same as the thousands of years of ecological growth that it took to create the same summit. Margaret Palmer, director of the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory at the University of Maryland’s Center for Environmental Science recently told National Geographic that the soil that is laid at the sites is so devoid of nutrients that it would take 2,000 years for the ecosystem to return to its natural state.

NASA documents the effects of Mountaintop Removal of a 25-year period.

I Love Mountains and Pennies of Promise are just two of  many great groups working to put an end to mountaintop removal, and Dear Companion can now be added to that list.

I’m not a music critic, but wanted to take a quick moment to highlight one of their songs, Only a Song. The lyrics perfectly highlight the struggles and succeses of activism through art. The song also reminds me so much of this site. ImpactDash is only a site, trying to give a voice to the everyman/everywoman who is trying to deal with the issue of climate change in the ways they can.