Whenever I start to read or listen about environmental issues, I become depressed. I feel that as amazing as human beings are, we are so very destructive. So when reading "Lost Mountain" I try to find the positive aspects and hold onto them. Something that struck me as very positive is the way in which Erik Reece approaches the argument against mountain top removal coal mining. Erik Reece does not say we should not mine coal at all. He makes many points that show there are just better ways of getting the same job done. He also is trying to stress the point that although mountain top removal is in essence destructive, that if coal companies had done what they were supposed to do in the first place, it probably would not be such a pressing issue. He makes reference time and time again to coal companies cutting corners when it comes to safety issues just to make more money. He also highlights the corruption within the coal industries. Okay, so I have moved away from the positive again, but it is just not that hard to do.
In the last chapter assigned for Wednesdays reading titled, "The Ecovillage", Reece brings us back to the positive. He shows his readers how we can help to fix the same damage we have caused. His argument no longer stops with the reader feeling bad and saying, "That's horrible." but it carries on to a different place. A place where a glimmer of hope can be found. A place where one can come to understand that we are not without control. Each one of us can make a difference, Olson and his students at the Ecovillage are, why can't we?
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I agree with your blog. Reece does not concentrate on the pollution cause necessarily by coal but by what the actually strip mining does to the communities. I like that he does not completely dismiss coal mining but makes the audience realize that the top removal itself is the real evil.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. I feel that this book does seem a little depressing and all the information Erik is giving us is all bad. Hearing all the evidence about coal companies cutting corners and the corruption makes me very angry. Why don't they care? What they are doing affects so many people.
ReplyDeleteI also like the fact that he does try to bring it back to a positive viewpoint at the end of this section. I want to hear more about ways we can extract coal without hurting the land and environment so much.
Ultimately, isn't Reece against coal as the future way to generate electricity? You're right that he soft-pedals this point. He does it by pointing to positive means of reducing our use of coal.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you tried to stay positive because I agree this is a very depressing topic. I also like how you said we can all make a difference. It would just take a little time and effort for everyone of us and we can make a huge difference
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