For
starters, mountaintop removal mining is safer and more efficient than other underground
mining techniques. Instead of sending miners inside of mountains that can
collapse, explode from the inside or even suffocate miners, mountaintop removal
mining stays on the outside of the mountain and retrieves it from the outside.
It’s also more efficient because it’s easier to transport the coal from outside
of the mine than extracting it underground and then moving it out. This
requires more time, equipment and ultimately, money.
It
seems that the biggest problem with mountaintop removal is the environmental
damage that is done to the mountain’s ecosystem. However, nature has been able
to adapt to any situation it’s been given and it happens every day. After the
operation, the companies in charge are required to restore the site as close to
its former state as possible. The illusion that coal companies care nothing for
the environment is not true. By law, they are supposed to do their best to
restore the mountain to its former glory and most of the companies make a very
conscious effort to do so.
For the
people who live in Appalachia, coal is their way of life. Without it, their
lives and communities would experience more unemployment and some towns may
even start to become abandoned as they have for the past fifty to sixty years.
Coal mining is essential for the prosperity of these people by providing funds
and making room for public buildings like libraries and schools. It also
provides tax revenue for businesses to come in and improve the area
economically.
Even
though the mountaintop removal process may be hard to look at and endure at the
beginning and middle stages, the results and effects of mountaintop removal
mining benefit many people throughout the region over long periods of time. The
mountaintops are restored to their former glory and the local communities
benefit economically from it.
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| Golf course on top of mountaintop removal site. |
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