WIND IS THE ANSWER TO COAL
US coal film aims to put wind in green energy sails
Michael Thurston, June 3, 2011 (AFP)
"A new film protesting against US coal mining and starring Robert F. Kennedy Jr. aims to boost green alternatives such as wind power and highlight ‘criminal’ destruction by the industry…[M]akers of The Last Mountain hope the documentary will engage viewers through the story of a Virginia community threatened by ‘Big Coal’…
"The film opens [today] in New York and Washington and will be released inother US cities in the coming weeks…[It] tells the story of a community in West Virginia's Appalachian mountains taking on Massey Energy, one of the biggest coal producers in the US, trying to stop its practice of mountain-top removal to mine coal seams…Kennedy…a long-time environmental activist…[joins] protestors in the Coal River Valley as they fight to preserve their health and the local environment."
[Kennedy:] "I was a little reluctant to get involved with doing a film just because I was more attuned to other kinds of advocacy…[but virtually] this entire industry is a criminal enterprise, and I don't say that lightly… If we had a true free market, coal couldn't function in the marketplace. It's just too expensive. And oil couldn't function. If we had to pay at the pump for the war in Iraq, we'd be off oil overnight."
"Perhaps surprisingly, the movie gives relatively generous time to mining bosses and workers, asserting how vital the industry is for jobs in tough economic times…[and while] much of the film follows the protests -- including tree-top demonstrators and campaigners against the health impact on a local school -- it also shows people developing alternatives, such as building wind turbines…"
posted by Herman K. Trabish @ 6:01 AM
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