There have been a slew of great mountaintop removal coal mining documentaries, most recently two amazing films with which NRDC has been proud to partner: Coal Country and Deep Down. Now comes another powerful story from the director of the award-winning film Leveling Appalachia. The new film, by Chad A. Stevens, is called The Coal War.
(Photo by Chad A. Stevens)
Chad's film could be considered the third installment in the trilogy of films, along with "Coal Country" and "Deep Down", which exposes America’s dirty energy secret -- that our nation’s electricity comes from blasting and leveling our country’s pristine mountains. This is done for one reason: destroying mountains creates more profits, faster, than traditional coal mining.
Already, more than one million acres of America's oldest mountains have been destroyed by removal coal mining process. Each day three million pounds of explosives are detonated in Appalachia, releasing poisonous chemicals, like arsenic and selenium, into valley streams that provide drinking water to countless communities.
Chad's film asks this fundamental question: Is there a better way to generate energy? It turns out there is, and that is the premise of "The Coal War".
For over four years Chad has been working on this documentary, one that takes the viewer on an emotional journey as a grandmother fights to save one of the last untouched mountains in Appalachia and a threatened, uniquely American way of life. The film chronicles Lorelei Scarbro's courageous fight to save her home in a way no one has ever tried before: by building the first green, sustainable energy project in Appalachia: The Coal River Wind Farm.
In southwestern West Virginia — an area that has been ravaged by mountaintop removal — one mountain remains: Coal River Mountain. And if Scarbro’s plan is successful, the ridges of Coal River Mountain will be lined with 220 wind turbines, producing enough electricity to power 150,000 homes without destroying land, water or air. And it would do so for as long as the wind blows.
"All Americans need to wake up to the battle raging in the coalfields of Appalachia," says Stevens. "They need to know there is a better, viable alternative to the environmental destruction for corporate profit. They deserve to hear about one brave American’s ingenuity, and her courageous fight to save her home, her community and the mountain she loves."
But in order to tell Lorelei Scarbro’s story -- the story of Coal River Mountain -- this movie must be seen. In order for that to happen, Chad needs to raise a bit more money to finish the project. This is where you come in. This is your chance to help save the land, the water and a mountain by funding this movie. Won't you help? Click on the widget below to view the trailer and to donate. Go. Save. A mountain.
