The hasty and unsubstantiated responses to the Virginia quake that attempted to link it to fracking were troubling. Such shoddy journalism and misappropriation of scientific information does not help serious citizen scientists and activists who are trying to end destructive resource extraction strategies. I'm grateful that the author took up the challenge to question those responses.

The author capitalized really well on a perfect storm of events over the past few days that have drawn national attention to mountaintop removal mining. She draws them all together in the text and includes links to major news sources. The article also weaves in events that have not necessarily made headlines, such as the action taken by an activist to confront Sen. Manchin on his collusion to downplay real impacts of mountaintop removal mining on real people.

I always root for good films on how coal mining impacts people and nature to get national exposure. Coal Country is a good film -- I agree with Wellington that it's one of the more "even-handed" ones -- and I think PBS viewers would have appreciated it. Beyond that, I think films like this need to be seen: People and nature in Appalachia are suffering because of this deadly practice of mountaintop removal mining, just as other Americans are suffering out of sight and out of mind ... More »

At least two (left-leaning) talk shows picked up on Byrd's changing views on coal mining in West Virginia (see links below).

This article not only reflects my own experience trying to get mine safety data, but data on mine permits from an Office of Surface Mining database as well. Based on my experience, the author is spot on concerning the search interface and the need to cut and paste one record at a time.

I think the author of this article makes some interesting points and asks some good questions. I was interested also in comments posted by readers as they reflect the mistrust and uncertainty that is present in coalfield communities, and grows when disasters like these continue to happen. I would like to see some organized effort to keep pressure on the Obama Administration for transparency of the Upper Big Branch investigation.

Since moving to the east Tennessee coalfields I have relied on journalists like Ken Ward to fill gaps in my understanding of the bigger picture of coal mining. As often happens, this article gave me a chance to gauge what I know and don't know yet. It's been useful to me to acquire a number of different lenses through which to view coalfield communities, the coal industry, and the policy and regulatory structure that surrounds (or impinges upon) both. It's clear to me that we're ... More »

I thought Democracy Now made a great choice in having these two very knowledgeable and courageous people say what they know from experience about coalfield community and mining industry dynamics.

Dionne's connection of several different disasters in this article through a common link of environmental justice really made this article for me. The issue at the heart of these disasters is the exploitation and oppression of people and nature. He leaves the reader with a challenge to look into this idea more deeply.