The Last Mountain: New Documentary on Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

I briefly wrote about a new documentary, The Last Mountain, which covers the insane mountaintop removal coal mining  industry in January, and included a trailer of the film. Well the film just premiered in New York City and the Natural Resource Defense Council’s Eric Goldstein made it to the premiere and has shared his experience of it. I thought it was worth a share. Here’s the intro:

Last week, I attended the New York City premiere of “The Last Mountain,” a sobering documentary about the coal industry’s devastating mountaintop removal practices in the Appalachian Mountains. As I watched, I was struck by how little most New Yorkers know about this ongoing tragedy, although it is occurring only five hundred miles from Times Square.

The film follows environmental lawyer Bobby Kennedy, Jr. as he travels around West Virginia’s coal country, speaking with families living and working in the shadow of Coal River Mountain. This natural peak is called “The Last Mountain” because – as country star EmmyLou Harris observed – it’s just about the only mountain in the community that the coal mining industry hasn’t blown up yet.

According to the film, Massey Energy – the third largest coal company in the U.S. – has followed the same destructive pattern since arriving in the Coal River Valley in 2000.  First, the company dynamites the majestic mountaintops.  Then it brings in giant earth-moving equipment to tear up the trees and landscape and heave them into the low-lying hollows and streams to get at the coal.

Goldstein goes on about the destructive practices of Massey Energy and its tens of thousands of permit violations, related public health consequences, and Bobby Kennedy speaking at the premiere here: New Film on Destructive Mountaintop Removal Should Wake Up NY

More Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining Stories and Planetsave:

  1. The Last Mountain [MOVIE TRAILER]
  2. Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining Loses Another Financial Supporter
  3. To Swiss Banking Giant UBS: Get Out of Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining!
  4. Cut the Coal (Going Green Tip #6)
  5. Mountain Heroes: Help Stop Mountaintop Removal Today

Front Page Photo via iLoveMountains.org on flickr

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