Fragments From Floyd

I MUST focus on other things this morning, so I'm giving you an assignment, cub reporters.

We have human interest here; we have conflict and sacrifice--young activists (yes, even in our times!) standing in harm's way in a Tennessee strip mine this week, butting heads with corporate coal company stockholders and honest, hardworking, unemployed miners who only want to go to work. Strip mine reclamation on the one hand, a new zeal to level more mountains (at twice the $$ per pound of coal vs 2 years ago) on the other.

AP Wire | 08/17/2005 | Appalachian states working to reforest mine-scarred lands
"Appalachian states working to reforest mine-scarred lands"

Environment News Service ENS Latest Environmental Information Education Current Issues RSS
"Tennessee Coal Road Blocked to Protest Mountaintop Removal Mining" (See also MJS link, end of this post.)

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Appalachia coal mines hiring new generation
"But coal still produces more than half the electricity generated in the U.S., and expanding economies in this country and China have created a huge demand for electricity.

The National Mining Association expects U.S. coal production to be a record 1.14 billion tons this year, up from 1.11 billion last year. And the increase comes amid rising prices: The price of coal from central Appalachia has risen to nearly $60 a ton from roughly $30 a ton two years ago, according to industry analysts."

Mountain Justice Summer / "Reclaiming Appalachia: A Mountain Takeover" This is the organization to which the protestors belong. Here is their 'about' page, and you might be surprised: it's mostly about water. Yes, it is.

And I see there is a chapter of MJS at Virginia Tech. Hmmm.