Overview

Coal is West Virginia s bread and butter. For more than a century, West Virginia has answered the energy call of the nation and the world by mining and exporting its coal. In 2004, West Virginia s coal industry provided almost forty thousand jobs directly related to coal, and it contributed $3.5 billion to the state s gross annual product. And in the same year, West Virginia led the nation in coal exports, shipping over 50 million tons of coal to twenty-three countries. Coal has made millionaires of some and paupers of many. For generations of honest, hard-working West Virginians, coal has put food on tables, built homes, and sent students to college. But coal has also maimed, debilitated, and killed. Bringing Down the Mountains provides insight into how mountaintop removal has affected the people and the land of southern West Virginia. It examines the mechanization of the mining industry and the power relationships between coal interests, politicians, and the average citizen. Shirley Stewart Burns holds a BS in news-editorial journalism, a master s degree in social work, and a PhD in history with an Appalachian focus, from West Virginia University. A native of Wyoming County in the southern West Virginia coalfields and the daughter of an underground coal miner, she has a passionate interest in the communities, environment, and histories of the southern West Virginia coalfields. She lives in Charleston, West Virginia.

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9781933202990

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Reviews

Bringing Down the Mountains is a clear and impassioned account of the devastation being visited upon the mountains of southern West Virginia by the coal industry. Read it and weep. Denise Giardina, author Storming Heaven and The Unquiet Earth Shirley Stewart Burns. . .reminds us that the effects of certain economic practices might still be described in such old-fashioned terms as 'devastation' and 'destruction.' Tycho de Boer, The Journal of Southern History [Burns] exercises considerable skill in detailing the expansion of mountaintop removal (MTR) and its growing opposition. Chad Montrie, author Making a Living: Work and Environment in the United States Burns offers a cautionary tale of the future... The crisis Burns defines has implications for all of us and for our children. This book deserves a wide audience. John H. Barnhill, Technology and Culture Bringing Down the Mountains is one of the finest books yet regarding mountaintop removal mining and the destruction of the Appalachian culture and environment. Shirley Stewart Burns has written the most comprehensive account of the struggle that has been taking place in the coalfields of southern West Virginia and the long-term ecological and social consequences of mountaintop removal mining. It is a thoroughly researched and eloquent book that brings alive the true voices and great dignity of a courageous people. Jack Spadaro, former Superintendent of the National Mine Health and Safety Academy Everyone in America should read this important book. Shirley Stewart Burns understands this complex issue intimately, and she eloquently explains it from all the various angles, exposing the horrors of mountaintop removal and the way it is not only destroying the heart of a place and its people, but also affecting everyone. This is the perfect book for anyone who wants to educate themselves on this disturbing, irresponsible, and disrespectful form of Big Business gone awry. Silas House,

Author Information

Shirley Stewart Burns holds a BS in news-editorial journalism, a master's degree in social work, and a PhD in history with an Appalachian focus. A native of Wyoming County in the southern West Virginia coalfields and the daughter of an underground coal miner, she has a passionate interest in the communities, environment, and histories of the southern West Virginia coalfields. She lives in Charleston, West Virginia. She co-edited Coal Country: Rise Up Against Mountaintop Removal Mining with Mary-Lynn Evans and Silas House.

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