AN UNREPORTED,ON GOING,ENVIRONMENTAL CATASTROPHE
2/25/07
I have recently became aware of a very well kept,catastrophic, environmental secret. I am embarrassed by my ignorance of this grave environmental issue. I have tried to rationalize my own faint awareness and inaction towards this horrendous national disaster, but I can only find fault with the companies involved, and the criminally negligent and complicit mainstream media as a the local, state and federal governments, for permitting this crime of widespread environmental destruction and pollution to continue uninvestigated and unreported.
I urge my readers to visit, (ilovemountains.org) in my link section, to view several video presentations and articles and see for yourselves what I have seen. I have not ignored environmental issues in my articles and radio programs, but I am not as deluged by environmental newsletters or updates as I am with other current events. So many environmental organizations are underfunded or understaffed for the numerous issues and concerns they are working to publicize. I can not stress more earnestly the need for attention that must be given to these organizations. I applaud all who are involved and ask that they feel free to involve me and my media outlets to help them, ilovemountains.org is a worthy cause I wish to help. The states of West Virginia and Kentucky and several other states are being destroyed by mountain top mining. The richest forest land in the United States is being systematically destroyed by coal company greed. They are devastating the environment to avoid using and paying minors in their mining operations in the poorest regions of the United States.
To do away with coal mining jobs in these areas coal companies are now blowing up mountain tops to access the coal causing untold environmental destruction as well as destroying the lives and livelihoods of all who live in these areas. According to ilovemountains.org, 450 mountain tops in West Virginia and Kentucky have been destroyed. Surrounding watershed areas, rivers and steams have been polluted, destroyed or diverted; which has caused immense suffering to thousands of animal species and hundreds of thousands of people. People who have lived for generations in these areas are seeing their lands flooded and polluted, rendering once fertile land unusable for animal or human habitation, and clean ground water and streams are made unusable for human or animal consumption.
When I discover something like this I am compelled to do something about it. Under the Bush Administration environmental issues have become a joke. The Bush EPA and Dept. of Interior are selling our national treasures to the lowest bidders with the highest campaign contributions. Congress is just as complicit in these acts of treason and corruption.
The areas being environmentally devastated are sparsely populated and poor. Appalachian mountain regions are the poorest regions in the country. Its people are the most poorly represented by their state, federal and local governments. Why have we heard no public complaints or protests from the many world famous Blue Grass and Country Western musicians; who hail this region of the U.S as their home and origin of their success and inspiration? Why are these states’ politicians doing nothing to prevent this environmental disaster? Why has the national media completely ignored this issue? Why is this region of the U.S only focused upon by the national media, when there is some major mining accident? Why is it that days after these accidents, nothing more is heard of or reported in the media about the miners, or about the far greater disasters facing the people from this region of the country. Could it be that coal and energy companies have total control over the local and national media? Could it be that the coal and energy companies have paid off all government officials to keep silent? Simply look at the impoverished history of this region, and the horrendous treatment of coal miners for the last one hundred years, then the answers to these questions become obvious.
I am embarrassed as a concerned citizen, that I knew so little about Mountain Top Mining or the suffering it has caused so many. I will try to continue to keep this urgent environmental issue and others in my articles and radio programs, to help these people and organizations as much and as often as I can. I hope my readers and listeners will consider helping these people as well.
Please refer to my link section on the side of this page and click on (ilovemountains.org.)
L.A. STEEL
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