Please don’t blame Kentucky floods on Climate Change; historic flooding occurred in 1927, 1937, 1957, 1977, 1997, etc. The Appalachia area is prone to flooding due to the hills that quickly send the water down the hollers to waiting creeks and rivers. Growing up in West Virginia, my grandpa’s house was up in the mountains, and when the rains came, he often warned me to pack up in case the bridges flooded out, which sometimes happened. My mom used to say–Dad doesn’t want to feed you, teen boys, all summer. 😊
According to state mining engineers, the trees and vegetation can hold 40 to 50% of fallen rain and release it gradually. Historic rains, of course, overwhelm the ecological balance. What you won’t see or hear is one of the reasons the flooding is getting worse: the literal destruction of all vegetation, trees, and life by mountaintop coal mining. Mountain top coal mining is the destruction and blasting away of the top of a mountain to reach the coal. First, all the trees go, and then the mountain top is blasted away by removing 600 feet or more of the mountain’s elevation. After this is done, digging begins, don’t think of a shovel; think of monster machines that are 20 stories high and can hold 20 compact cars in their bucket and can replace hundreds of miners. These mountains are reclaimed with grass which is insufficient to hold back the rain. It will take a century or centuries for the woodland to reappear.
The coal mining families of Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, and Virginia have made many sacrifices to supply energy to the country, but with little regard for their safety, welfare, or community, and even less respect for the people. Bette Midler’s tweet in December revealed her heart and her view, and the view of many of her fellow elites, of the people of West Virginia:
Joe Manchin who represents a population smaller than Brooklyn, has done to the rest of America, who wants to move forward, not backward, like his state, is horrible. He sold us out. He wants us all to be just like his state, West Virginia. Poor, illiterate and strung out. Bette Midler, 10:41 AM · Dec 20, 2021·Twitter for iPhone
In the recent bill passed on Climate Change, how much is in it for the mining families and communities of Appalachia? It seems that every Presidential candidate has hawked fantastic ideas for West Virginia since I was a boy, yet not much has changed. Billions are spent on foreign aid while many areas of the country go wanting. It is insanity.
Yes, go ahead, blame all the problems on Climate Change, move forward and mine the earth of its lithium, destroy some other areas, and poison streams and rivers. What has got me going? My great grandfather built a house in WV shortly after the Civil War. My grandfather was born in that house. I am 72, and as far back as I can remember, it was the heartbeat of mom’s side of our family. I hunted and played behind the house. I dreamed; I learned from nature. But now blasting of the hilltop has come—it shook the home off the foundation and emptied the well of water. All solid for over a century and a well that offered cool pleasant water year after year, but the mines say—the house was just old.
I suppose Climate Change got it. Climate Change has become the surreal monster that creeps and haunts our society, but we have the answer—we will create more destruction by mining for lithium.
Proud of my heritage–Dr. James D. Allen
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Dr. James D Allen
Dr. Allen served as a seminary VP, pastor, and as a trustee on a Christian mental health Board. He has earned a BA, MA, MA Biblical Counseling, Doctor of Ministry. Dr Allen has also preached on 5 continents, lived in 3 nations, and so has a diverse Christian experience. He has a distinguished career of being a pastor, consultant, author, and educator. MY FIRST LOVE--Being a Pastor and encouraging others!