Let Us Be Very Clear: Mountaintop Removal Mining is NOT About Creating Jobs, It’s About $$$$$

by Denise Giardina, WV novelist, excerpted from a May 22, 2007, op-ed story, Charleston Gazette

The column by Steve Roberts and Kenny Perdue on May 16 is reprehensible on a number of levels…

(I)t attacks the decent citizens of West Virginia who are trying to protect their beloved state and mountains. It uses inflammatory language that could invite others to level attacks, even violent ones. If that happens, Roberts and Perdue and their ilk will be responsible.

Such a blatant attack upon basic human decency calls for an equally blunt response…

Mountaintop removal is evil, and those who support it are supporting evil. The mountains of West Virginia are God’s greatest gift to West Virginia. To destroy the mountains is to spit in the face of God Almighty. Our state motto and state song are about the mountains. Our state university’s football team is named after the mountains. Blowing apart these beautiful mountains is an attack upon this state and this people.

…Let us be clear. Mountaintop removal is not about creating jobs, it is about enriching coal companies. Mountaintop removal destroys deep mining jobs, and ensures that other companies will never, ever locate here. It assures that the only future for southern West Virginia will be as a garbage dump.

The full op-ed is online here.