Boooo! I'm getting sick of watching stuff like this. Not because there's anything wrong with the clip itself, but because there are so many instances of ecological devastation these days that it's almost becoming cliche!

Rainforests - decimated
Oceans - Full of plastic trash
Mountaintops - Made low
Rivers - Toxic
Climate - Changing

We have got to wake up. We've got to. If anything is going to happen about all this, God-fearing people are going to have to get angry about the devastation people are causing, and not simply speak out against it, but actively confront it. We'll have to support environmental initiatives. Oppose oil drilling. Embrace green technology. Do our part.

If God cares enough about this planet to come and dwell here, perhaps we would do well to care about it as well.

Daddy wont you take me back to Muhlenberg county
Down by the green river where paradise lay
Well, I'm sorry my son, but you're too late in asking
Mister Peabody's coal train done hauled it away.

During WWII my father ran coal mines in eastern Tennessee. Following the war he began to broker coal lands for strip mining in the southern Appalachian mountains. I remember in the early 1950's accompanying him on a trip to the areas of Harlan and Hazard, Kentucky. He had just signed leases with Peabody Coal company for strip mines. We stopped by to see the Peabody equipment being unloaded from the train and he took my picture standing by a rail car with a mammoth bulldozer which had wheels larger than a house. He told me it was the largest in the world.

But what most impressed me was the extreme poverty of the area. I dreamed of going there someday to teach school and work to help the people who lived there. I believe my father thought that by bringing in strip mining the economy and people's lives would be improved. I just checked before writing this and between 30 - 40 percent of the population of that county still live under the poverty line.

And the coal company came with the world's largest shovel
And they tortured the timber and stripped all the land
Well, they dug for their coal till the land was forsaken
Then they wrote it all down as the progress of man.

When I first heard this song in the early 70's I had to get out our family album and look again at the picture of the world's largest coal bucket. I regretted not going to rural Kentucky after college. I felt guilt for the part my family had played in the rape of the land.

This is rape of both the land and the humans there. The conditions of the natives there hasn't changed in 100 years. They still suffer from black lung disease and with educational opportunities almost non-existent and the need for each generation to return to mines for their living, it just continues the travesty.

This is where I grew up--West Virginia (the only state ENTIRELY in Appalachia). Strip mining is endemic. I don't know how often it stretches to mountain removal. But of course ALL the money goes out of state and the people are desperately poor--still. And of course coal is so finite, that it is horrifically ridiculous that we burn it for fuel and to generate electricity. It is a crime on so many levels that it is unbelievable.

I grew up with it all around me. It didn't help anyone. And of course, now that the coal is running out, there is no economy in West Virginia. Not to mention no primary healthcare for the people whose health was ruined by this industry.

I don't know how to take myself off this roller coaster. I don't know how to stop participating in exploitation on such a massive scale.

I feel like we've lost much of our ability to exercise free will because of how tied together the whole world is. It would take me acting full-time to make sure I'm not promoting this sort of activity through my choices.

In the nineteenth century would I have been able to boycott sugar and cotton and other slave-made products? would I have been that strong? I love sugar!! Today I love books and vacations and buying plants in plastic containers at the nursery and traveling to see my friends at great distances. All of which can contribute to the rape, not only of the people who live in the places that allow me to enjoy these things, but also the world itself.

I feel impotent.

An area with a one-product economy is always vulnerable. When coal runs out, what's left is horrible earth scarring and unemployed workers who have only one skill.

Somewhat related is what our government has adopted recently in its pursuit of alternate fuels. Ethanol has become the oil substitute which will "save" us from our dependency on oil--NOT! It not only costs more to produce than it saves, but many farmers who formerly grew wheat or soybeans have turned to corn beause of its much higher returns. Thus, the less wheat grown, the more expensive it becomes, and with bread as a world staple in the diet, bakers from the US and Europe to pasta manufacturers have seen their costs skyrocket--more than double a year ago. Also, as cost of corn increases, beef becomes more expensive, and for those of us who are vegetarians, dairy products have increased dramatically. We are interdependent and demand for one product equals reduction of many more.

Sugar? The U.S. subsidizes its producers heavily, if not, we could get imports at half the cost. Again, the sugar lobby is powerful in Washington; just as the farm lobby--paying millions to huge family farms.

Elaine, it gets worse. Higher prices for corn gives an additional incentives to cut down rainforests and convert them croplands. A full 20% of greenhouse gasses worldwide come from burning rain forests that have been cleared, and these are no longer available to absorb carbon. That makes the picture even worse for corn ethanol as a substitute for petroleum fuel. See article in NYTimes:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/08/science/earth/08wbiofuels.html?_r=1&or...

Feelings, nothing more than feelings....

I've said before, and I'll probably opine again that we've worked ourselves into a tight spot where we seem compelled to choose between feeling good and doing good.

It feels good to drink warm Starbucks. It feels good to drive large vehicles and to travel around the world to see exotic places. It feels good to have and to buy and to do, and our society stands behind us saying, "Take, buy, do!"

On the other hand, it is doing good when we forgo some luxuries and experiences in the name of preserving people's environments, resources, and abilities to live healthfully.

What society needs is a way to start feeling good about doing good. It feels good to know that there may be less plastic in the oceans I love when I reuse my own shopping bags. It feels good to think that when I walk to class instead of driving there, that the air will be that much cleaner. It also feels good to think of how much less energy I'm consuming when buying produce from a local farmer's market than when I buy imported produce at the grocery store.

I hope for a day when it starts feeling good to do good--when society can feel good about saying "NO" to consumerism, to excessive luxury, to exploitation of people and resources. I think that until it feels good to do good, we will not reverse things like climate change and land and water degradation.

Don, yes, the NYTimes is a daily "fix." There is so much more involved when one little pin is removed or changed in the global ecology. We pay the price.

feelings

I don't feel good to know that there may be less plastic in the oceans when I reuse my own shopping bags, because I'm not convinced that this one action makes a real difference on the ocean. Insignificance dwarfs the good feeling.

I don't feel good to think of how much less energy I'm consuming when buying produce from a local farmer's market than when I buy imported produce at the grocery store-- because it is an extra trip by car and more time out of the day to go to two places than a large one-stop shop, and they are more expensive with less offerings, and it's open only one day a week and I have to work longer to pay for the same produce, so that carves away time at home for two reasons.

possible need: create a business that will deliver prepaid e-mail ordered local organic produce to the door for a minimally increased price- but less than the time cost, gas cost and inconvenience of finding another parking spot. Have them deliver it regularly in reusable bins. Maybe connect this service with another daily or weekly service, mail, meter check, UPS to save on gas pollution.Perhaps direct ordering will make homemakers feel as powerful as grocery chains and as selective as gourmet restaurant chefs-marketing is all about feelings.

Got to have doing good be tied to: saving money, making significant impact, feeling good, saving time, saving effort. The more of these in place, the easier to change behavior. Vive la capitalism and small entrepreneurship!

sorry for digressing from the larger problem of coal mining. That's a much bigger problem to solve.

Arlyn,

You make a very valid point that "doing good" doesn't always prove particularly convenient.

In addition to the clip Alex posted detailing the land degradation caused by strip mining, the following link provides another look at why "inconvenient" might be expedient--necessary.

watch here

You've heard the maxim "think globally, act locally." I imagine the power of America's millions of citizens all acting together in a concerted way to address the issue raised in this video clip.

Together, we can.

Dear Jared,

Yes we can.

Here's how we do it.

For Idealists- portray extremes of perfect enviromental paradise next to horrific enviromental hell to set up corresponding feelings of delight and outrage, identify man at different times as evil perpetrator for guilt and as the only savior/change agent for messianic hope, pit individual choices against unfeeling, inhuman corporations so the underdog motif is added, end with dire predictions of the future so urgency is felt.

This is how to get at feelings.

I don't want to come off as being for stirp mining, but how is this worse then a Mt.St.Helens? Is it because St. Helens was the "handy work of God"? It is interesting that the things in the "natural" world that tend to make us pause in awe, mountains, canyons and lightining bolts, are caused by or are great acts of power and violence.

Because, accidents do and will happen. But woe to the person who deliberately creates one.

Dick,
There's a very clear difference between this strip mining and St. Helens, I think. It is that Mount Saint Helens (call it God's handy work if you honestly think it is) is beyond human control. Strip mining is within our ability to control.

Clearly, Scripture calls us to act on behalf of people when it is within our power to do so, and to act on behalf of the environments people live in when it is within our power to do so. Wouldn't you say so?

Arlyn,
Help me out here a bit. It's hard to tell just in the reading of your comments what portion of your response has an ironic and facetious tone to it, and what portion of it may be serious thoughts. Again the downside of conversing across cyberspace.

I get the sense that you're opposed to positing a human-as-saviour-of-the-environment narrative. I would guess that there are some things that you would be in favor of. I assume that you are somewhat like many Adventists who are nature lovers--or at least that you appreciate nature. Is that a fair assumption? What sorts of things would you say are healthy ways for Adventist Christians to go about trying to bring about positive change where the Earth is concerned?

A crime perhaps but a sin most definately. The law or persons may be unsure whether this is legal or not but I have no doubt, as do the Christians of Appalachia, that this is a sin.

Dear Jared,

Sorry for not realizing that friendly teasing doesn't come across in writing.

You were ruminating on tying good feelings to doing good. I put my marketing hat on and spelled out a strategy to elicit feelings and associations strongly so that one would feel moved to change behavior. There was no implied analysis or judgment on the validity of those feelings- you were reading into it more seriously than it deserved.

Here's the weakness- that is how idealists recruit other idealists. That's like singing to the choir. And unfortunately, idealists are a minority in the human race. So, how to change the behavior of the rest?

Incentives, feedback, easy access to live time facts (or the semblence of facts and control, since some things are estimates only and control is indirect often).

I am not creative but here's some suggestions for the not-feeling oriented to do good things for enviroment:
1. Saving energy at home- Have the city change the electric and water meters into radio signalling ones that send the readings over space. Then move the meters INTO THE HOME- kitchen, preferably. The turning dial should signal to the homemaker- "your money is being used this fast."
2. Have a switch that turns off the electricity to all areas except kitchen and bedroom right by the door- owner can hit it as they leave the house.
3. Buying energy efficient appliances- Manufacturer's guarantee that this device saves your energy bills over the next two years or a rebate back. This lowers the risk of paying more up front for the energy efficient model. Then on the back end- a guarantee that in 10 years the manufacturer will issue a trade-in value of 1/3 of the purchase pride toward an upgraded model. Sweet.
4. Access to water purity data- City website that can be used as desktop icon or background- lists events, weather, links, also enviromental data like weekly updated city water purity, nearby lake purity levels, swimming safety, air pollution levels, tracks local wild animal population, garbage/recycling ratios per street, make sure it has beautiful nature videos of local area too.
5. limit gas emissions- city to build carpool parking lot near highway ramp and have a coffee/drink cafe attached to staffed by Starbucks during morning hours. Think if the city offers free lease and free advertisement on the highway signs that Starbucks will bite?

and one more:
6. Support local organic farmers- Make the public school lunch program use the local organic farmers- better for the kids, better for the local economy, spreads the cost around (ugh, higher taxes)and parents feel better too.

Arlyn, I'm with you on those suggestions. It took a little while to say so with the mysterious disappearance of the Spectrum blog recently (maintenance or something?)

I tend to be averse to Starbucks, which might be an unpopular stance among this crowd. They have a terrible track record when it comes to fair trade and human rights issues. I think the less people consume Starbucks products, the better off the world will be. And that's without considering the copious amounts of litter produced by the single branch of Starbucks down the road from my house on a daily basis.

But I once again digress.

I like your suggestions Arlyn, some fun innovation and several of them are actually being done by thousands of people already.

We just had the former CEO of Zip Cars in the office presenting her cool social networking site to help parishioners car pool to church (and other places).

www.goloco.org

If anyone wants to start saving money with energy efficient products I recommend. . .

ShopIPL.org
Disclosure: I helped create and help run it. The profits support the Interfaith Power and Light campaign.

If you enter "shopipl" in the coupon blank, you'll save an extra 10%.

Also, just saw this upcoming invitation for action regarding the original post on mountain top removal. It looks cool, with support from Backpacker magazine. Those extreme environmentalists. . .

http://restoringeden.org/newsandenents/shoutin

Hey, guys, noticed that my stance has been educated by your enviromental posts through time? See, little by little, a tree hugger is being formed.

What real jobs can we offer those who are current miners? Why are their options so limited to one industry? Where has public education failed? Why does business avoid those areas- if they do? Are there no tax incentives to attract entrepreneurs?

Arlyn, you bring a smile to my face.

I imagine that you're not ready to hit the drum circle with the leafy neo-pagans yet. . .but I'm glad that you've been asking good questions and finding green answers.

Now, you can help us with good folks like Bob and Pat. . . : )