Jason Howard of the Kentucky Environmental Foundation had an Op-Ed in the New York Times yesterday on the ways in which coal--specifically, mountaintop removal coal mining--is dividing people and communities in Appalachia.Howard chronicles coal industry advertising and the harassment of several coalfields environmental activists. There is no easy resolution to the fraught relationship between the coal industry and the people of Appalachia, many of whom rely on it for jobs even as it poisons their region. But it is imperative that the industry’s leaders and their elected allies lay down their propaganda and engage in an honest, civil dialogue about the issue. The stakes are too high to do otherwise.Howard is also the co-author (along with Silas House) of "Something's Rising: Appalachians Fighting Mountaintop Removal."
