{"id":633,"date":"2009-03-17T15:29:18","date_gmt":"2009-03-17T20:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klgoing.com\/kl_blog\/?p=116"},"modified":"2019-07-19T19:15:02","modified_gmt":"2019-07-19T19:15:02","slug":"mountain-top-removal-interview-with-barbara-strangfeld","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klgoing.com\/mountain-top-removal-interview-with-barbara-strangfeld\/","title":{"rendered":"Mountain Top Removal – Interview with Barbara Strangfeld"},"content":{"rendered":"
Some of you may remember the interview I did with Barbara Strangfeld on my forum. I’d intended for that interview to stay up so people could always access it, but when I took the forum down, it disappeared. I’m reprinting it now on my blog in its entirety so that others who didn’t get to read it the first time can still learn about this important issue.<\/p>\n
Just a note – this interview was originally conducted just before the 2008 election.\u00a0Questions came not only from me, but from participants on the forum as well. Here it is:<\/p>\n
Q: Hi Barbara, Welcome! Thanks for stopping in to answer our questions about Mountain Top Removal. <\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span>To start with, would you give people a basic idea of what mountain top removal is and why you’re leading the fight against it? <\/span><\/span> \n A: Hi to all! <\/span><\/span>Thanks so much Kelly for the opportunity to talk about Mountaintop Removal Mining (MTR). This is a very, very environmentally destructive form of coal mining which does not utilize miners in the traditional sense. Think of layers of coal in a mountain like a seven-layer-cake. Rather than send miners underground to remove this coal, MTR literally blows off the cake layer (the mountain), extracts the icing (the coal) and then dumps the cake waste (mountain waste) into the valley below clogging up rivers and streams, causing flooding and toxic pollution of the streams. Before this is done, the mountain is clear-cut of all timber and the timber is burned or thrown into the valley below as well, killing and wasting trees. When you are finished, the majestic mountaintop is completely gone and you have instead a lunar-like landscape. Our <\/span><\/span>Appalachian Mountains<\/span><\/span>, a national treasure, are being ruined as I write this. I encourage everyone to visit www.ilovemountains.org<\/span><\/a> to see it for themselves, to learn more about this awful destruction and how they can help stop it. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n \n I got involved in this effort after learning about MTR from a volunteer from Appalachian Voices who gave a presentation at a nearby church. The presentation was given in April of 2007 – the day after the Virigina Tech Massacre. The presenter, Benjamin Burrell, was a graduate of Virginia Tech. He had given up an opportunity for a highly paid job to work for Appalachian Voices because he felt so strongly about the need to end MTR. Right before his presentation, Benjamin received a phone call confirming that his friend, Julia Pryde, who had previously worked as a volunteer to stop Mountain Top Removal Mining, was a victim of the Virginia Tech Massacre. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n In January of 2006 I was in a very serious automobile accident when my car hit a patch of black ice, so they told me where to find a car accident attorney<\/a> for this case. It was a miracle I survived. After the accident, I often wondered why some of us survive and others are taken from us. But when I heard about Julia, I knew I had to do something for her. I did not have her youth, her considerable talent or her energy but I did have a voice and I could be a “Voice for the Mountains”. In Julia’s honor, I promised myself that I would dedicate myself to encouraging others to be a “Voice for the Mountains” until we had a big enough choir to stop MTR once and for all!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Q: That’s a wonderful response to such a horrible tragedy… what’s even more amazing is that you never met Julia, yet you were still moved to provide the voice for a cause she cared about but could no longer speak for. <\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span>Tell me, why is mountain top removal used? Is it a money issue — this is simply the quickest and cheapest way for the companies to get at the coal? Is the system all automated or are there still people doing this job? Also, what kind of responsibilities do the companies have to replant the landscape? <\/span><\/span> \n A: Mountaintop Removal Mining is done because it is quicker and cheaper. The coal that is obtained this way is bituminous or soft coal. It is a softer coal than anthracite and a dirtier coal. Much of the coal obtained through MTR is too dirty to use in the <\/span><\/span>U.S.<\/span><\/span> and is sold overseas to countries where they may not have environmental laws to protect them against the use of this very dirty coal. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Theoretically companies are required to “restore” the landscape but in reality there is minimal restoration. And of course you cannot “re-grow” a mountain. What has been lost, has been lost forever. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n There is nothing good about MTR. It is ruining one of our most beautiful national treasures, the Appalachian Voices. It is ruining a culture that has existed in those mountains since before our nation’s founding. That is why it has largely been kept a secret and why it is so important to get the word out. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n If you cannot see the devastation in person, the best way to see it is at www.ilovemountains.org<\/span><\/a> where they use Google Earth technology to make the horrors of MTR visible to all.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Q: Is this just happening in <\/span><\/strong><\/span>Appalachia<\/span><\/strong><\/span> or does it happen other places as well?<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n A: Right now MTR is primarily taking place in <\/span><\/span>Appalachia<\/span><\/span> but unfortunately steps have been taken that could lay the groundwork for more widespread use. A very good article to read about this appeared in the New York Times: <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2007\/08\/23\/us\/23coal.html?_r=1&oref=slogin<\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n And thank you for your interest in this issue!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Q: Barbara, would you consider yourself an environmentalist? If so, would you have considered yourself as such before you learned about this issue? <\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span>How have your views changed since becoming involved?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \n A: Kelly, that’s a good question. Rather than consider myself an environmentalist, I consider myself an American who loves her country and wants to preserve all that which makes this country so beautiful – in this case our national treasure, the Appalachians. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n In getting involved with the fight to end MTR once and for all, I have learned that now, more than ever, it is our responsibility as citizens to stand up and make it happen. It’s not about the “power of positive of non-thinking” as someone recently called it. Just saying things are great, whether it be in reference to the economy, our environment, or foreign policy – doesn’t make it so. We, as citizens, need to be willing to take those steps – and sometimes they are tough steps – to make the necessary policy changes. It’s too easy to fall into the “politics of denial” whereby we just pretend that everything is wonderful. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The good news in all this is that in this country we are truly blessed to have a system whereby we can make those changes through legislation. In this case, anyone – young and old – can do a lot by contacting their Congressional Representative and ask them to sign on as a co-sponsor of HR 2169 – the bill that will put a stop to MTR.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Q: What effect if any do you think the upcoming election will have on this issue?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \n Q: Do you live in <\/span><\/strong><\/span>Appalachia<\/span><\/strong><\/span>?<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n A<\/span><\/span><\/span>: I live in <\/span><\/span>Pennsylvania<\/span><\/span>. To me, this is an issue of national concern. The <\/span><\/span>Appalachians<\/span><\/span> belong to all of us as Americans and it is our responsibility to preserve them. But also the people who live there have asked for our help in saving their home. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n I think that the upcoming elections are very important. We need to choose wisely. We need to examine carefully a candidate’s positions on the issues and vote accordingly. It’s not about personality. It’s not about silly things like lipstick. This is not American Idol. The future of our country and the planet is at stake.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Q: Wow, I admit I didn’t know anything about this. Stripping coal from mountains and wrecking the place in the process? <\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span>I can’t believe this isn’t bigger news. Maybe because it’s only in that one place, or because we want to become “less dependent on foreign oil.” Way to go <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong>USA<\/span><\/strong><\/span> to allow this. As long as we drive our cars and gas is $0.05 cheaper I guess it doesn’t matter that we wreck our own back yard in the process right? <\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span>I’d love to ask one of the candidates about this… <\/span><\/span>I guess my question would be: How can we make a bigger stink about this? <\/span><\/span>Are there any videos of this happening, or wrecked lakes, or created refuse for that matter that we can post on utube or anything? <\/span><\/span>This just seems crazy.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n \n A: That’s a really great question. <\/span><\/span>If you haven’t visited ilovemountains.org, that’s the first step. You will really be able to get an idea of the devastation from that website. You might also want to visit the website of Appalachian Voices – www.appvoices.org<\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Also, if you google Moutaintop Removal Mining, you will find quite a bit out there. It’s just not in the mainstream media that much. Most Americans are completely unaware that the <\/span><\/span>Appalachians<\/span><\/span> are being ruined. But this is the way we are getting the word out – by email, by blogs, by podcasts, by texting friends, by forums such as this, by presentations. If everyone just tells two or three friends and emails their Congressional Representative about this – we can end this before it’s too late for the mountains.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Q: Barbara, you mentioned that the people of <\/span><\/strong><\/span>Appalachia<\/span><\/strong><\/span> have asked for our help in saving the <\/span><\/strong><\/span>Appalachian Mountains<\/span><\/strong><\/span>. What is currently being done to get this specific message out to people? This might be a theme that would get people to come out to a public program at a library in NY state, what do you think?<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \n
<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n