But I’m No Expert

So I haven’t posted since April, can you believe that? I’m a bum. But I read an article today that really got my attention.

Have you ever not really had an opinion on a matter, then you read something that gives alot of information, and all of a sudden you find yourself totally on one side of an issue that you never really cared about before? In this case, I’m talking about Mountain Top Mining. If you’re like me, as of yesterday, you’re probably like, “Soooo, it’s mining right? We have to get coal somehow and this is just another way of doing it.” Well, that’s true, but not the whole story.

I read this article and it has really opened my eyes to what’s going on in the world around us. Personally, I don’t think we should be mining coal at all, we should put all that effort and money into producing alternative energy sources, especially wind & solar. Speaking of solar, I read another article in Popular Mechanics about Jay Leno and his new wind generators for his garage. He’s a big car collector and has this humango garage to house his cars, but it uses alot of eletricity. Well, he decided to buy this one particular wind generator and now has a chunk of his bill taken care of by it. In fact, California’s laws are such that the government almost pays for it! (Hello? Tennessee?)

Anyway, so this article talks about what exactly Mountain Top Mining is and how it has basically destroyed many water supplies throughout Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia. Not only that, but ruined the landscape, cracked home’s foundations, and damaged forests & mountains that are some of the oldest in the world. All because these mining companies want to make a quick buck off the high price of coal and someone back in the 1880’s & 90’s bought mineral rights to everyone’s land. Ridiculous!

You would think that our government would do something about this, right? Wrong. In fact, they have done more to allow it and cover up the results of this process than anything else. Ironically, it’s the agencies that are tasked with protecting the environment and our water that are allowing them to be destroyed and polluted beyond usefulness. I know I voted for the guy, but the more I hear about what Bush & his appointees/hired hands/staff have done while in office, the more it just pisses me off. This isn’t really a political rant, but more along the lines of someone who’s just…confused. Don’t these mining companies see that they are part of a bigger picture and that destroying mountains for the short term profits of their investors just hurts everyone in the long run? Why can’t they at least play by the rules, which were meant for everyone’s good? Why the hell can’t the government get off it’s fat a$$ and do something worthwhile?

If the people who are doing the mining, the companies that own them, whether real or shell companies, can’t play by the rules, then they should be shut down and arrested for a variety of charges. If the government can’t enforce the laws as they are, then they should have their power taken away from them. And if we, the American public are going to do nothing and continue taking it up the you-know-what, for the sake of “cheap” power and that we don’t want to “cause trouble”, then we deserve to drive ourselves into extinction, but I’m no expert.