Comments on: New Video on Appalachia and Wells Fargo

By: The Incompleat Iconoclast » “The Language of Marketing”

The Incompleat Iconoclast » “The Language of Marketing” — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 15:31:05 +0000

[...] week or two later, I received the following letter from Wells Fargo offering to lend me the spectacular sum of $1,076.55 at an enticing interest rate of 19.99 percent. [...]

By: JW Randolph

JW Randolph — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 20:58:04 +0000

charliee @52, check out the Appalachian Voices site.

Wind power would work in Appalachia. Charlie Roth wrote a good article about it in the last issue of our paper, which Im not sure if it is online yet. MTR coal=5% of America’s energy. Appalachia could sustain 4% of our energy with wind if we stopped MTR.

We also have a federal bill called the “clean water protection act” that would make “valley fills” illegal. 77 co-sponsors and counting in the House of Representatives!
peace,
JW

By: charliee

charliee — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 19:30:08 +0000

hey im doing some homework on this site. wondering if you could give me some advice. I have to answer the following questions:
1. what do conservationists think should happen?
2. what are they doing?
any chance you could help me?
thanks
charliee

By: Vicky

Vicky — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 19:21:38 +0000

WHY is this being allowed to occur? It is destroying families, rivers, streams and forests!! WHAT CAN WE DO TO STOP THIS TRAGEDY?? Do you have no boundaries in this country? Why isn’t our government allowing for means other than oil/gas to run our vehicles? WHY does everything have to be destroyed in the name of GREED????

By: Mary Ramsay

Mary Ramsay — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 14:06:50 +0000

I have seen Mountain Top REmoval first hand in a fly-over through Southwings. IT is even worse close up.
None of these companies realize that fresh clear mountain water would sell better than the coal that is polluting it. THe only thing that gets the wareness of big corporations is money, and until they become aware of another “use” for the land they will continue to destroy irreplaceable habitats and the land itself. That said, it is still up to us to get the word out.

By: Maria

Maria — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 08:18:45 +0000

Why are we working so hard to destroy what we have? Do the powers that be realize that once nature is deflied it takes decades if not centuries to replenish what was lost. Why do things like these keep happening? I think public opinion should always be taken into account on these matters. The people we elect don’t seem interested in what we think. When did the “Government for the people by the people” mission statement disappear?

By: Peggy

Peggy — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 22:02:58 +0000

My reaction to this video is pretty much as the woman in it says “these people are crazy”. We shouldn’t be surprised of course because big business has been steadily destroying our land in the name of money not in the name of providing more energy, just money. Alaska is a prime example and now we see they won’t stop at destroying an entire area topographically and culturally. This has to stop now.

By: Jacqueline Robinson

Jacqueline Robinson — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 17:27:16 +0000

Wells Fargo and other financing companies should be ashamed of the destruction they are supporting. We don’t have a second chance to do things right. Do the right thing and put your money into useful ventures like helping curb Global Warming. This and other things that would help your children and their children for generations to come. If we don’t take a stand now it will be too late! Please leave the beautiful mountains and the people alone, they don’t deserve this!

By: Barry D. Anderson D.M.D.

Barry D. Anderson D.M.D. — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 14:37:26 +0000

I grew up in Eastern Ky., in the mountains. It is strictly a matter of economics. The easiest and cheapest way to reach coal is by mountain top removal. Not all is bad. This form of mining has in some few instances provided excellent habitat for elk, geese, deer, and many other forms of wildlife. Let me repeat in a very few small instances. Mostly it is utter destruction on the level of nuclear warfare. The answer to this problem is for Americans to wake up and demand renewable energy from our government. We must take a stand and force our senators and representatives to move our country toward renewable energy: wind, solar, hydroelectric, hydrogen fuel cell, and any new forms we can develope. In the mean time we will be putting out fires of destruction and winning battles but no end to the war. I used to have faith that our government was honest and looking out for our best interest. Now I am beginning to believe they are only concerned with how much they can benefit from special lobbies, big oil and coal corp., and have very little concern for the impact on us. There has to be a movement of the people to vote and elect environmentally concious members of government. I am afraid that our generation is too greedy so we must hope and pray that true care for our planet will come from our children. Teach them, guide them, and pray for them.

By: mary ann locke

mary ann locke — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 17:47:53 +0000

I wanted to add with deforestation, comes erosion, and erosion can cause landslides, add pollution to the water not to mention the trees that are involved filtering carbon dioxide. Also it takes years and years to grow back, esp. old growth. And what of all the animals who made these trees home-birds, squirrels, etc. I, Mary Ann Locke, a biologist, oppose this in its entirety.

By: Lynne Horst

Lynne Horst — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 15:22:35 +0000

Whenever you use energy, think about what it is doing to our environment. Remember, we are all consumers, only through limiting our energy needs through conservation, working to support alternative energy sources, and taking responsibility as individuals for our energy consumption can we end the destruction of our environment for energy sources.

By: sparki

sparki — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 09:37:07 +0000

hey folks– thanks for all the comments, if you want to take action against Wells, go here and give them a call– http://ga3.org/campaign/wells_fargo_call_day

Sparki

By: Japhet

Japhet — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 01:56:55 +0000

Yeah I have to agree with Dotson. Some of the most adamant voices against mtn top removal are coming from the families and local people who are experiencing it first hand. If anything, its a matter of having access to the media, access to knowledge on how to get your voice heard and access to money to help organize. They’re actually doing it on their own, with very little help from outside. Pretty impressive to me….

By: D Dotson

D Dotson — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 00:40:52 +0000

” I will tell you that the reason this destruction continues unabated is because Appalachia is full of poor and illiterate people who don’t care or don’t know enough to care about the destruction of the environment and what that means in terms of lasting impact on the area.”

Way off base. These people know what is being done to them—to their children, their heritage, their future, their land, their economy. They just don’t have the power and money to do anything about it which is why WE all have to get involved and help. I so love it when people blame the victims instead of the doers of the crime.

By: Patricia North

Patricia North — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 23:32:31 +0000

I live in the North Country of Minnesota on the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness Area, one of the remaining truely pristine places on earth. Just outside of this breathtaking place is another story. Watching the video of the coal mining operations I’m reminded once again of the terrible impact these companies have upon the lands. Here it’s the iorn mining industry. Here, the same gaping holes, the polluted waters, and all the rest are examples of mining companies run rampant. For years, the mines were a way of livlihood for countless people and hardly a thought was given to the damage left behind by the open pit mines. For years I watched this with feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. Nobody dreamed of fighting the huge companies. Today, there are a few glimmerings of light, but much needs to be done. With enough voices we can make some big changes. It’s daunting, to say the least but at least we’re taking some strides in the right direction.

By: Geri A. Mellgren-Kerwin

Geri A. Mellgren-Kerwin — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 22:27:25 +0000

Destroying people’s lives by eliminating jobs and ruining the landscape for a product that when burned releases carbon dioxide gas, the chief cause of global warming is a crime against humanity and nature. Since we can meet our energy needs with green technology and nuclear power, there is no need for us to tolerate this kind of rapacious capitalism any longer. We can put them away and for the sake of future generations that will inherit the earth, we must do so now.

By: Michael Anderson

Michael Anderson — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 20:40:52 +0000

This is what I tried to explain to the college students protesting outside of the nuclear power plants that I worked at. I wish I had this video to show them. We have the ability to produce power a lot better than this. We have sun, wind and water but they don’t produce enough power for the countries needs. Unfortunately Reagan made it so we cannot re-use our nuclear fuel in a pact with the now defunct soviet union. We need to repeal that act and re-use our nuclear fuel instead of burying it as well as get solar panels on every building in our great nation.
Last summer I watched trains carry 120 car loads of coal pass by every hour. This isn’t happening only on Appalachian land, but across our nation. Coal and oil will be our ruin.

By: Really Dirty Coal Mining, Comes with a high cost! - Science-Fiction & Fantasy forums

Wed, 22 Nov 2006 19:43:58 +0000

[...] Re: Really Dirty Coal Mining, Comes with a high cost! The problem is better stated here: Rainforest Action Network – RAN.org "Coal companies claim that mountaintop removal creates job and stimulates the local economy. But the real motive of mountaintop removal is to eliminate jobs in the mining sector. In 1940, West Virginia employed 130,000 miners 130,000 short tons of coal annually. By 1997, West Virginia employed less than 20,000 miners producing 180,000 short tons of coal annually. Mountaintop removal accounts for about 1.2% of jobs and brings in 2.6% to the local economy." Rane: People need those jobs. Coal miners are just that, coal miners. They know the risks and they do it anyways for thier familiies. Other people have risky jobs and do them too, Alaskan fishermen, underwater welders, loggers, ect. [...]

By: deborah j volk

deborah j volk — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 18:15:12 +0000

I will be cancelling my credit card thru wells fargo, although I obtained it to cover dental work.

By: ron riddle

ron riddle — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 18:02:58 +0000

Please form a petition and I will sign it.