Friday, November 13, 2009

Meanwhile in Appalachia

Coal Country, a documentary about mountain top coal removal, airs Saturday, November 14th at 8pm. Channel: "Reel Impact" on Planet Green, a Discovery Channel (Find the Planet Green station in your viewing area.) The industry that destroys the landscape and poisons the water to the point that it dissolves children's teeth lowers the energy bills and employs many of the area's residents, according to the NYT article. Channel finder here.

6 comments:

Robin Morrison said...

We're a curious species, we are.

poide: a fall that goeth before pride

amarilla said...

How's the water out West?

Robin Morrison said...

In Spokane, we sit atop (never stand atop, for cities that stand might walk away?) the Rathdrum aquifer, which is plentiful and clean. The Spokane river has its share of heavy metals from mining upstream in Idaho and Canada.

Comes out of the tap with chlorine and fluoride and all those things this lad was raised on in Chicago. My body couldn't imagine life without them, having built up what I'm sure is an addictive tolerance to them, along with hormones in factory-raised meat, the many preservatives, and spent hydrocarbons in the air.

Younger people tell me the water tastes bad as they drink from water in plastic bottles. I deduce they are so addicted to plastic in their lives they prefer water tainted by it to water tainted by household plumbing.

I like the long view. 150 years ago, Americans drank fermented beverages for much of their hydration because the naturally occurring water, as yet virtually unsullied by what we today call pollution, was frequently lethal.

There is a natural balance to be found in nature, but little purity, says I.

Of course, back then, beavers were everywhere, and giardiasis was, I suspect, practically universal. Even now, "the CDC estimates that in the United States there are more than 2.5 million cases of giardiasis annually."

slathra: One of Godzialla's nemeses whose superpower was the ability to foam at the mouth in city-drowning portions.

P.S. I haven't forgotten the 'virtual world' prose poem reduction project. Busy couple of days. Will tackle it today. Tackle is an interesting word, yes?

amarilla said...

I could listen to smart people talk about their personal experiences with water, local or exotic for a long long time. Must be my aquaphilia.

Robin Morrison said...

Yeah, and you're weird too. ;)

fiturth: fitters who lisp

amarilla said...

REally? I had no idea!