mmay601blog.files.wordpress.com€¦ · Web view2013. 4. 21. · Ian Trickey. University of Kentucky. Abstract. Coal mining can be a very controversial issue, especially in the

Running Head: MOUNTAIN TOP REMOVAL: RAPE OF KENTUCKY? Trickey

Mountain Top Removal: Rape of Kentucky?

Ian Trickey

University of Kentucky

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MOUNTAIN TOP REMOVAL: RAPE OF KENTUCKY? Trickey

Abstract

Coal mining can be a very controversial issue, especially in the areas where coal mining occurs.

Mountain Top Removal is a specific practice of mining, which is more harmful towards the

environment than the traditional ways. As a result, many strong spoken liberals want to attempt

to put an end to this act. Actress Ashley Judd being one of these supporters to ending coal

mining has been recently speaking out against mountain top removal in her homeland, explaining

and expressing the negative side effects through her nostalgic, offensive tone.

Keywords: Mountain Top Removal, Coal Mining, Appalachia

Energy. For such a general word, it has such a powerful impact on the world. Without

energy we would be with out heat, hot water, air conditioning, electricity, and the ability to cook

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our food. With out energy we would be living like cave men. With that being said, the coal

industry provides the Earth with a majority of it’s energy compared to the alternatives; in fact

most countries mine and consume hundreds of thousands of tons of coal per year. However, coal

does not only have positive side effects, in fact many argue that the positive effects are heavily

outweighed by the negative effects it has on our planet. In the combustion of coal, carbon

dioxide emissions are released. This is the number one cause of carbon dioxide emissions in our

atmosphere. Consequently, coal mining is a key factor towards the recipe of global warming.

As big an impact global warming has on our Earth, that is still not the only down fall of

the coal mining process. As our atmosphere takes hits each day from the coal industry, the towns

and cities where coal mining take place take even bigger hits. One practice in particular,

mountain top removal, has all the side effects of coal mining completely magnified. This practice

is often referred to as “unethical” or “unmoral” for it destroys much aspects of life in the places

where it is performed. The home of this practice is mostly contained to the Appalachian area of

our country and in the surrounding states of Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee and Virginia.

Mountain Top removal requires large explosives to destroy the tops of these mountains to find

beds of coal lying underneath. Through the explosion, polluting the air, soil, and water destroys

these mountaintop ecosystems. This effect has many local natives speaking out against this

unsafe practice.

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Figure 1: Appalachian Mountains after having the top chopped off due to coal mining.Source: mountainroadshow.com

Kentucky’s own Ashley Judd has become an active voice in the attempts to reduce or

even put an end to this process. For those who do not know, Ashley Judd is an actress from the

Appalachia area of Kentucky. At one point she was among the top paid actresses in Hollywood.

Through her success, she still expresses her love for home and her compassion towards keeping

her hometown alive. In her blog she refers to mountain top removal as “rape of Appalachia” as

well as “environmental genocide” (Judd 12). Her specific words chosen in her blog clearly show

her strongly negative opinion towards coal mining. These also assist in establishing her pathos

by using scare tactics. Harsh words such as “rape” and “genocide” evoke very strong emotion.

Rape is commonly associated with other violent words such as violence and abuse. Using this

diction is a good way to express her feeling, as well as describing the situation. The Appalachia

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is completely innocent, and as a non-living thing it cannot defend itself. As a result, saying the

mountains are getting raped actually makes sense. Clearly, Judd is in opposition to the coal

industry, attempting to end mountain top removal, however, an end to coal powered electricity is

impossible.

Many people have taken a similar stance to Judd, but it’s easier said than done. The Coal

market employs hundreds of thousands of people from all but two states in the U.S. This

accounts for thousands of jobs as well as billions of dollars. In fact, in 2006, Kentucky coal

revenues exceeded 520 million dollars, over 200 of which being revenue towards employment

(The Impact of Coal on Kentucky 5). To put an end to this industry would be putting an end to

the U.S. economy. To conclude, ending coal extraction is impossible, however, the process and

amount in which it is done is somewhat flexible. Mountain Top removal is the least safe of these

processes. Traditional coal mining is safer for the environment as well as more efficient to the

people. Although, it is less expensive and easier to mine through mountain top removal, the

traditional mining requires more workers as well as safer environmental effects. As a result,

when the EPA makes stricter regulations to limit the amount of mountain top removal the

amount of jobs in these areas increase by a decent percentage. Since 2009, mining jobs have

risen nearly nine percent, including over fifty thousand jobs in 2012 alone (Martin 3).

There are also several substitutes for energy of coal such as water, wind, and solar power.

Also, other renewable resources can be used as substitutes to prevent the mass amounts of coal

mined. To further invest in these could be adding years to the life expectancy of our earth.

Ashley Judd supports the change of the coal industry for all of its poor effects on the

community. She has become very politically involved as she is running as a democratic

candidate for the U.S. senate in the 2014 elections. For the most part, she takes very left winged

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views such as putting an end to mountain top removal. In her blog, she explains how she is part

of the eighth generation of her family to be raised in Eastern Kentucky. This establishes her

ethos by clearly pointing out that her family is first hand evidence of the changes of their

community by the coal industry. Through her life, her family has seen the complete makeover

that is occurring in their East Kentucky homeland. However, counter acting her argument, the

coal industry employs majority of the people in these regions. Although she hates mining in

general it is a better argument to push for an end to mountain top removal compared to an end to

mining in general because we know that is not an option. Mining is necessary for our

country/world to run its daily functions.

In her blog, Judd specifically denounces Mountain Top removal practices by explaining

the amount of explosives used each day “blast 100 times greater than the Oklahoma City

bombing” (Judd 16). After, she explains our country’s consumption exceeds the amount of coal

that seven different companies mine in one year. She states, “this practice is a stain on the

conscious of America.” She of course being the universal figure that she is just wants her story to

appeal to the masses. The more people who are enlightened through her writings means the more

support she receives in her battle for the Senate. Specifically, she would want the natives of

Kentucky to realize what is occurring in their homelands. The more public her argument is the

more people find out about it. The more people who find out and agree with it can make a

change by influencing factors of the coal market, such as the EPA. If she can reach out to the

EPA to modify laws to regulate less mining than she would make progress in her ultimate goal of

slowing mining.

If she chooses to run for the Democratic Senate, she will be running against Mitch

McConnell. McConnell is all for coal mining in Kentucky knowing the potential money it can

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bring towards the state. He even criticizes the EPA for such harsh regulations towards mining in

Appalachia. He even criticizes democrats for their support of all the rules and regulations

claiming they raise the prices in turn delaying the necessary economic growth (Mitch McConnell

Slams EPA During Speech To Coal Group 8-9). Judd never publically disapproves McConnell’s

comments. She has very many points to be proven as seen in her blog, but why she wouldn’t

publically disagree with McConnell is unknown. In his very radical stance, she could win a lot of

support by backing her fellow democratic Kentuckians. Judd being a novice in the political

world, could gain many followers by making her position be known. Her anti-coal campaign

would clearly be known if she publically debated or commented against McConnell. This seems

to be a clear fallacy. Making a name for herself in the political world would expand her

popularity across the country.

Figure 2: Ashley Judd speaking out against Mountaintop Removal at the National Press Club.Source: dailycaller.com

Understandably, Judd hates coal mining with a true passion, however she is also very

close-minded about the topic. This industry exceeds any other in her homeland in a sense of

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employment, but she never touches on this part of the subject. In fact, she tries to use it as a point

to support her topic claiming, “Coal mining will never again employ 100,000 West Virginians

like it once did” (Judd 21). This is where her argument can become somewhat lopsided. She

continuously complains about the rapid growth of the industry, but on the contrary claims the job

market in mining will not grow. This is clear evidence to where she should push for all mountain

top removal to change to the original mountain digging mining. Like mentioned before, the

traditional method requires much more workers. The fact that Judd does not address this

opportunity for more jobs in her argument make it seem like an apparent fallacy. To be exact she

lacks pathos here by her lack of choices. She never addresses anything that could make an actual

change to coal. For example, she pushes for an end to coal mining, but she doesn’t mention her

support towards alternatives for coal or anything along those lines. She could be supporting her

own argument by establishing a campaign towards wind, solar, or water powered energy and

mention the benefits of these over coal powered electricity. Here her absence of choices makes

her argument completely irrational. This clearly makes her argument less effective as she does

not ever mention alternatives. There will be mining no matter what; it is a necessary resource for

electricity. Seeing that there will always be mining, Judd’s biggest fallacy is pushing for an end

to mountain top removal rather than supporting alternative energy which would result in less coal

needed, and in turn have less coal mined.

In a word, Judd has a good argument, but goes about expressing it in an ineffective

manner. One thing working against her is that her opinion is heavily outweighed by the contrary.

Her argument does not appeal to the masses, as it should. On a national level, it would be hard

for her to win support. She would be supported by environmental friendly people, but other than

that her argument does not appeal to them in a negative way. The negative side effects are long-

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term effects on the World which people seem to overlook. Before the world ends due to global

warming, we will all have been gone for millions of years, so as a result not many people care.

Majority of people across the country would be against her because her plan would boost cost of

electricity and obviously people are not in favor of higher expenses. On a local level, she

probably has even less support. So many of the people in Kentucky being part of the coal mining

industry would be negatively effected. An end to mountain top removal means a boost in cost of

mining, which means a cut in wages towards coal workers so they would also most likely not

support her. Her arguments as well as her delivery are both poor. Her lack of much information

leaves many holes in her push for an end to mountain top removal displaying her very ineffective

argument. To finalize, many would agree Judd is a better actress than politician.

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Works Cited

Huffington Post. “Mitch McConnell Slams EPA During Speech To Coal Group.” 2 August 2011. Web. 4 March 2013.

Judd, A. “Let’s End Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining.” Courier Journal. Youtube. 9 November 2012. Web. 21 February 2013.

Judd, A. “Mountain Top Coal Removal Mining.” The Official Website of Ashley Judd. Blog. Web. 20 February 2013.

Judd, A. “Mountain Top Removal Mining.” National Press Club. 11 June 2010. Youtube. Web. 20 February 2013.

Mountain Association for Community Economic Development. “The Impact of Coal onKentucky State Budget.” 2009. Web. 5 March 2013

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