What effects does Mountian top removal have on the economy? Despite claims that mountaintop removal increases local tax revenues, counties that produce coal are devastated by poverty, school closings, and unemployment. McDowell County has produced more coal than any other county in West Virginia, and for many years in the nation, yet the median household income is $19,931 and 37.7% of residents live in poverty.
http://www.appvoices.org/index.php?/mtr/economics/
There is a sustainability conference at BCTC Leestown this weekend.
ReplyDeleteFriday, April 16, 7:30-9:00 p.m., BCTC-Leestown, Building C Student Center, 164 Opportunity Way.
Jeff Biggers
Coal Free Future Begins in Kentucky
About Jeff Biggers: The grandson of a coal miner, Jeff Biggers is a writer, editor, journalist and critic who has worked across the United States as well as in Europe, India, and Mexico. He has written extensively about Appalachia, including the 2007 The United States of Appalachia: How Southern Mountaineers Brought Independence, Culture and Enlightenment to America. His new book, published in January 2010, is Reckoning at Eagle Creek: The Secret Legacy of Coal. Of this book, global warming truth-teller and NASA Goddard Center scientist James Hansen said, “Jeff Biggers exposes the truth about coal in America--how the myth of ‘clean coal’ destroys even family histories. But Biggers is a long-time warrior in another fight--to stabilize climate and preserve a good life for young people. Let us hope his message about dirty coal is read far and wide."
The speech: In the end, our fiduciary responsibility to our children demands a new way of generating our electricity in Kentucky and the country. It also affords us a great opportunity for economic and social revitalization. Clean energy independence, not coal, will bring more sustainable jobs. It's time to envision a coal-free future. It's time for clean energy independence. For those of us in the anti-mountaintop removal and anti-coal-fired plant movements, we believe this means we must start in Kentucky coal country.
Both presentations are free and open to the public.
ALSO CONNECT WITH MY MANCHESTER STUDENT WHOSE DAD IS A COAL MINER. Her Blog.....
http://alysiadavidson.blogspot.com/2010/03/research-question.html#comments