Response

May 31, 2005

Response to Steve Walker of Walker Machinery

--by Kathryn Stone

In his May 30, 2005 response to my article on the ethics and morality of mountaintop removal mining, Mr. Walker is quite right. The choices are not always clear. If I sounded self-righteous, I certainly do not mean to do so. I am very aware of personal complicity in environmental degradation by driving a car, using electricity and occasionally eating meat. I suppose I could ride a bicycle, move to the woods, Thoreau-like, install a wood stove and become a total vegetarian in order to make a smaller footprint on the planet. Unfortunately, these options (except for eating meat) are not really viable ones for me, and neither state nor national government make choices available for citizens in general. Very little money is spent on developing clean energy when fossil fuel energy is the easy and profitable way to go.

With respect to the good that the coal industry has done for our economy, it would be hard to dispute this. It is, however, a two-edged sword. This 'good' has come at a very high price in terms of destruction to the environment, in cost to taxpayers and yes, in moral/ethical dimensions of how it has adversely affected the lives of those who live in coalfield areas, not to mention health hazards of those living near coal-fired power plants. I would disagree that the 'dark side' of the industry remains in the past. Go to any of the towns and villages where mountaintop removal mining is going on, and ask residents about their quality of life. Ask residents of Mt. Alpha's Whispering Woods, whose expensive homes are being threatened by blasting, if they approve of mining in their back yards?

As someone who grew up in a pre-hightech society, I have certainly enjoyed the comforts that have been provided to vast numbers of Americans by the availability of relatively cheap energy. Like many others, I gave little thought to the source of this energy or to the moral implications of our proligate use of it. I had seen the movie "How Green is My Valley" about coal mining in Wales and lived in Northern England in the 1970's where mining had been a major industry, but was on the wane. However, until I moved to West Virginia in 1989 and became educated on the horrors of mountaintop removal mining, I was relatively content with the status quo.

You posed some interesting questions, Mr. Walker. Who owns our mountains?

Do mountains, flora and fauna equate with humans? Is it ethical to criticize without offering solutions? Let me try to answer these from my perspective.

On the first, to quote Genesis: "The Earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof". Who could ever have imagined that beautiful mountains would be lopped off, leaving desolate barren landscapes? Who would ever have imagined that citizens who have been living in these hills for generations would be displaced and discarded like so much rubbish? Who would imagine that future generations will be bereft of the beauty and use of these mountains that were created eons ago and thought to be here forever?

On the second issue of equating flora and fauna with humans, I would answer that there is 'an interconnected web of all existence of which we (humans) are a part'. Whether we acknowledge it or not, flora and fauna are essential to the health and well-being of humans. Ask any environmental scientist, botanist or biologist about this.

And third, is it fair to criticize without offering solutions. My answer is No. I did offer solutions. Solar energy, wind energy, tidal energy & fuel cell energy are a few alternatives. I also said that given the money and resources now spent on fossil fuel energy we could become models for the rest of the world in providing clean energy. Our economic engine can be kept going by clean energy in a better, more efficient way than is presently the case - if there is the will at highest levels.

We are now a global society. We must take responsibility for actions that affect the whole planet. Fossil fuel, which I reluctantly admit will be with us for awhile, must be phased out if our planet is to survive. Global climate change, largely due to fossil fuel emissions, is a serious threat . The world's best scientific authorities say this is so. When will government and industry take this seriously and give us clean energy? It is the moral and ethical thing to do, Mr. Walker.