Razing Appalachia

This past week, the news media reported the nationalization of Bolivia's gas fields by President Evo Morales. As is typical with western media, they managed to print nearly identical stories, claiming that nationalization could create a crisis, and that the takeover is poorly planned socialistic policy that will harm Bolivia. While the effects of the nationalization are yet to be seen, and wisdom of this policy is questionable, the media did not mention that nationalization of fossil fuels is a policy that a majority of Bolivians have demanded for quite a long time. Regardless of the implications, the impetus for such nationalizations comes from an underlying story we are all quite familiar with in other nations - fossil fuels are extracted at great cost to the local environment and population, and those who suffer for the resulting windfall profits see very little of these benefits.

What Americans are not aware of, thanks to savvy corporate lobbying and donation practices and the media's selective attention span, is that America also has its own underclass, exploited for the fossil fuel industry. In Raping Appalachia, published in this month's Vanity Fair, we see an incredibly dangerous industry, a form of mining (mountaintop removal) opposed by a majority of the state, a remarkable threat to the lives of residents and the surrounding environment that has killed hundreds already and done untold damage to the region, all perpetuated by unwise and heedless policy at every level of government. The people of West Virginia don't have a Morales, despite how desperately they need a powerful advocate in government. The poverty that persists in Appalachia and the abuse after abuse by the mining industry is infuriating and unbelievable. If anyone gets a chance, definitely read this.