Watched "The Last Mountain" in Energy and Environment class and was given a quiz that we were supposed to complete during the course of the movie including 2 personal opinion questions at the end of the quiz.
Review
The movie was a documentary on the Appalachia Mountains and the people who are living in these mountains, which they call the Coal River Valley. The people of the Coal River Valley are protesting against a company called Massey Energy as they are responsible for the mountaintop removal of over 470 of the Appalachia Mountains and in the process polluting the rivers with sludge and the air with coal dust. These made the conditions of the Coal River Valley unsuitable for living and caused many health issues for not only the adults but the children who are studying in the area.
The activists in the movie state that even though around 50% of the electricity in America comes from coal mining, there are other alternatives such as wind turbines that produce the same output but do not harm the environment, which is something that cannot be replaced once it is destroyed.
Robert F. Kennedy, John Kennedy's nephew is also on the activist's side in the movie and supports their idea of building a small scale of wind farms on the top of what is left of the mountains that were removed and maintains that " The United States is the Saudi Arabia of wind", hoping that it would reduce the reliance on coal mining and therefore reduce the pollution and other harmful effects that the coal mining industry brings.
The film concludes showing that the protest is still ongoing and that " the fate of the River Valley Mountains is still in the balance" and that " we are all connected to coal, whether we know it or not".
Personal Opinion
In my opinion,i think that certain actions of the activists are not required and that they should have focused their effort on the implementation of the wind farms or other alternatives because the coal mining industry, like any other industry, generates income and jobs for people thus the government, which usually rely on these numbers to gain the recognition and popularity among citizens, would not take any action against them unless a similar alternative is produced. Therefore, the activists are making the lives of the riot police and the coal miners difficult as they are just doing their job and that is their livelihood, they are not responsible for the greed of the company's plans. The movie is informative and shows the effect of human activities on other humans and their environment and also shows the effect of greed, but it is still biased. Nevertheless, i still recommend it to all as it shows the side of the coal mining industry that the companies would rather not let the general public see.
References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Mountain
Watch the full movie on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6neSdVOh_BM
Watch the full movie on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6neSdVOh_BM
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