Satellite photos recently released by NASA illustrate the real impacts of mountaintop removal (MTR) mining in Appalachia.
They were taken between 1984 and 2009 at the Hobet mine site in Boone County, West Virginia.
You can see through the time lapse the scale of the deforestation that has taken place, followed by the leveling of the mountain tops and filling of the valleys.
This is the same Hobet mine that was recently awarded a permit to expand by the EPA.
We urge EPA administrator Lisa Jackson to examine this practice firsthand, and take a citizen-led flyover of Appalachia before she considers issuing any further MTR mining permits.
Posted on 13 March 2010
Tags: Boone County, coal, deforestation, Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, Hobet mine, Lisa Jackson, mining, mountaintop removal, mtr, Nasa, satellite photos, west virginia
About the Author
Amanda Starbuck directs RAN’s Energy & Finance Programs, challenging large banks to stop funding the world's most destructive industries and start funding renewable energy. She has been actively campaigning and organizing on environmental and social justice issues for 15 years, previously working with Greenpeace, People & Planet and Green Corps. She ran the media department at the Center for Alternative Technology, Europe’s leading eco-center and then, while leading the Communications team at Forestry Commission Wales, worked on the world’s largest onshore wind power development. Amanda can be found on Twitter: @Starbuck
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Satellite photos recently released by NASA illustrate the real impacts of mountaintop removal (MTR) mining in Appalachia.
Twitter Updates
How many miles across is each image?
how many times larger? as a percentage?
Jenn: If you click on the image to see a larger version, you can see a scale in the bottom left corner, the small white horizontal line, which represents 1 kilometer
Malik: Over the 25 years of this photo series, the mine grew to more than 10,000 acres (15.6 square miles). The full NASA commentary can be viewed here:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/WorldOfChange/hobet.php