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Mountaintop removal coal mining is as bad as it sounds but how does it directly affect you? This amazing presentation makes the connection between you and this horrendous practice through an innovative and powerful use of Google Earth.
As executive director of Appalachian Voices, Mary Anne Hitt works to bring people together to solve the environmental problems leaving the greatest impact on the central and southern Appalachian Mountains. The organization works with communities across Appalachia to tackle two major causes of climate change: mountaintop removal coal mining and the construction of new coal-fired power plants. Its new online campaign iLoveMountains.org uses Google Earth to lift the cloak of secrecy that has allowed coal companies to flatten almost 1 million acres, destroy 474 mountains, and bury over 1,000 miles of streams, devastating local communities in one of the world's biodiversity hotspots. Hitt is a senior fellow of the Environmental Leadership Program, and worked previously as executive director of both The Ecology Center and the Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project. She was a recipient of the Len and Sandy Sargent Environmental Advocacy Award at the University of Montana, where she received her master's in environmental studies.
What is your momentum? I believe that if we can solve the climate crisis without leaving behind those who are most vulnerable, America can once again inspire the world.
