Coal Country

Film evenings begin with potluck refreshments and social hour at 6:30 pm,
followed by the film at 7:30 pm, followed by a discussion after the film.

Coal Country
by Mari-Lynn Evans and Phylis Geller

Passions are running high in the mountains of Appalachia. Families and communities are deeply split over what is being done to the land of West Virginia by Big Coal, the coal mining corporations now practicing mountain top removal. This is the latest form of strip mining where coal companies blast the tops off mountains and run the debris into valleys and streams. Appalachian streams feed the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. So these waters, too, are being poisoned by West Virginia mining operations. After getting the coal from the exposed seams of coal after blasting off a mountain top, the coal companies transport it to processing plants. Using mountain top removal and completely disregarding the waste products of mining coal, at these plants, coal is mined more cheaply than ever, and so America is still heavily dependent on coal just as it is on cheap oil. Coal is the source for half of America’s energy. But the air and water are filled with chemicals and an ancient mountain range is disappearing forever.

This is the story of coal. But see this film for the human stories as well. Learn about the devastation that is taking place in the lives of people who live in Appalachia. And so many other poor creatures, from the creatures in the rivers and streams to the bear and deer in mountain forests have died because of mountain top removal. Miners themselves have suffered and died working on these mines, and of course, virtually all of the area has physically been destroyed. There is no other place on earth that has suffered like the mountain-top-removal-demolished mountains of Appalachia. This film shows the devastation wrought on the people and the land of southern West Virginia. It is devastation on a monstrous scale and most Americans are probably not aware of the extent of it.

Wheelchair accessible around the corner at 411 28th Street

$5 donations are accepted