San Francisco hears about mountaintop removal mining.

I'm out in San Francisco this week visiting Alisha and she found a viewing of a new documentary called "Burning Our Future" playing at one of the local theaters in town. It is a documentary on the effects of mountaintop removal coal mining in West Virginia and takes a harsh look at those effects. All sides are given air time, from Bill Raney, President of the West Virginia Coal Association and Governor Joe Manchin to those that claim ill effects from the process. The film is made as an advocacy film for that second group and is focused mainly on the struggles of the Gunnoe family in Boone County.
Below, you'll find a two minute trailer on the movie which sets the tone for the piece. The lady in the black t-shirt in NYC is the Gunnoe matriarch in the movie and was at the screening and did a question and answer session following the movie here. Below that you'll find a quick review by me of the movie.




My Thoughts...
Overall, I thought that the quality of the movie was high and that the director presented West Virginians as intelligent and thoughtful (which oftentimes isn't the case)and dealt with some of the realities of coal politics in Southern West Virginia well. While I despise mountaintop removal mining I'm torn as to what should be done in exchange and the movie doesn't address that issue either but it wasn't its point. The movie does oftentimes confuse several subjects and presents them as an indictment of the industry which I found unfair. In particular the movie discusses both the effects of the actual extraction of the coal and the resulting damage to water tables, land and the flooding and declining quality of the ecosystem as well as the conversation about the burning of "clean coal" as one argument. These are two totally separate conversations and should be treated as such in my opinion.
I do suggest a look at this movie to at least understand what is happening in places like McDowell, Mingo, Boone and other counties in West Virginia, southwestern Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee but also understand that the movie has a viewpoint and it wants you to agree with it. My overall thoughts....

B+ or ***(out of four) or "Thumbs Up" which ever scale you want to you.