Lost Mountain 1-85

Reece gives many different arguments on why the mountain top removal program in Appalachia is more negative and positive things for this region. The main argument that I came across is what mountain top removal is doing the people in the region. Already very poverty stricken the mountain top removal program gives many environmental problems to the region as well. When Reece meets up with Teri Blanton we see many of these negative affects. He mentions how more than once when the two were traveling past homes of people she has known or knew, she says everyone in that house died of cancer. The reason for this she believed and is a very valid argument is because of the toxins that were being released and not cleaned up from the coal companies.

The county that they were going through was Dayhoit. When the two went to a graveyard a very noticeable thing on the stones was the fact that most date of births to date of deaths would only span till about fifty five years. Blanton says "Not many people in Dayhoit live past fifty-five". Obviously this life span is not near the average life span in America.

Reece also visits a community meeting in which people come to speak about the coal mining situation and problems in the community. The argument for coal mining comes up often in this meeting and the most notable one he mentions is that of Paul David Taulbee. One thing he said was "The only way to stay in the mountains is to mine the mountains!" This argument can become very relavent I believe because mining does bring jobs, not nearly as many as it used to, but it does. Plus most of these communities had been brought up around mines. People who leave the region do sometime come back because they know no other way of life but that of living in a coal mining community.

If I were in the debate of whether to keep coal mining going on in the region, I would say that we need coal to run this country. In the community meeting they also make a mention to how everyone in the meeting is going to use coal and even Reece mentions how he used fuel to write this book. However, something needs to be done about the method of strip mining. Harder laws should be passed to keep the region in as best shape as possible and the carbon and toxic wastes that contaminates the air and waters of the Appalachian region need to be cleaned up.