Energy wars

My family has lived in our beloved valley here in West Virginia for 10 generations. I’m a coal miner’s daughter and granddaughter.

There is an energy war going on here. We’re being bombed with three and a half million pounds of explosives every day. Up to 700 feet of mountaintops have been blasted from 400,000 acres of our mountains.

The deforestation worsens flooding and toxic coal waste sludge dams sit above our homes and schools.

Some children slept fully clothed and ready to run during rain events. Homes are damaged and covered in coal and silica dust. Residents can’t sit on their porches, some use respirators when they mow their lawns because of coal dust. Our water and air are poisoned daily. Our miners die, suffering from black lung and crushed bodies so Americans can have energy.

Both wildlife and human habitat is destroyed and poisoned.

Some dare to compare wind farms to mountaintop removal. Come to West Virginia and see the difference. We are fighting for wind here on our ridge, to save it from mountaintop removal. One person’s trash becomes another person’s treasure.

More wind and solar means less coal, kilowatt by kilowatt, until coal and nuclear plants are gone. The air coming out of a wind turbine is as clean as the air that went into it.

The wind dilemma is a class issue. We are poisoned for others’ conveniences. If your energy comes from coal, then it is covered in our blood and it should be dripping from our light switches. War is waged against us for energy, but yet some people don’t want to look at a wind turbine.

When you flip on that switch, remember who suffers. Take responsibility and fight for renewable energy. Your children’s lives depend on it. Visit www.ilovemountains.org.

Julia Bonds
Co-Director Coal River Mountain Watch
Rock Creek, W.Va.