Hacker Cinema
Coal Rush
2012 · Film · 90 min
Directed by Filippo Piscopo, Lorena Luciano
Coal Rush follows the environmental and social empowerment battle waged by over 500 residents of Mingo County, West Virginia. The residents are fighting for their right to safe, clean, fresh drinking water. The fourth largest US coal producer is accused of knowingly polluting the water by dumping billions of gallons of toxic coal sludge underground and putting entire communities at risk.
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1 comment on Hacker News
Native West Virginian here. We have kind of a strange situation in that we are rather right-leaning politically and so many people are employed by coal and energy companies that anything that comes across as "environmentalist" is met with hostility by the general public, even though we are too often the victims of horrendous incidents such as this, as well as highly questionable business practices like fracking, mountain top removal, etc. Just Massey Energy's track record alone is pretty disturbing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massey_Energy#Environmental_record
And in recent memory, the Chesapeake incidents:
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/82EF516757FCD5DD85257C4600814C2B
I think a lot of people have essentially accepted things the way they are now and aren't willing to rock the boat. There are a handful of documentaries that come to mind- namely The Last Mountain, Coal Country, and Coal Rush- that are pretty difficult to watch, but I think if more people in our area saw the effects of our beloved industry they might see things differently. However, I think most end up turning a blind eye to it out of fear of unemployment.