Around here, strip mining is a “necessary evil,” said Ms. Moorman, a Girl Scout volunteer for nearly 40 years whose daughter and granddaughter followed in her footsteps at the camp. She would prefer that the land she considers her favorite place on earth not be mined. But if it has to be done, she said, better a homegrown company does it. “We have already fought it twice, and won,” she said. “How many times can you keep fighting?” For the Scouts, the reality of the mine as a neighbor is beginning to take shape. There is talk of creating a coal badge, to teach girls about electricity from the ground up, all part of “discover, connect, take action,” the Girl Scouts’ new leadership code.
