In coal country, a just transition remains a distant dream.
News of the world environment
NEWSLETTER | MAY 24, 2024
No Alternative
Dig out our coal, turn it into cash.
Starve out our homelands, but keep your wallets fat.
Shake down our houses, with your big old draglines.
And bury our families, deep in them mines.
I heard these lines, sung by the The Local Honeys, for the first time back in April when the acclaimed folk duo from Kentucky, Montana Hobbs and Linda Jean Stokley, performed at the Bioneers Conference in Berkeley. The words are from their award-winning song, “Cigarette Trees,” which was inspired by a coal slurry pond disaster in Martin County, KY, back in 2000. That was the first time I heard of the disaster, which spilled 250 million gallons of liquid mine waste into local waterways and, to this day, has left people there struggling to find safe drinking water.
“You know how people have neighborhood watches? Well, in Martin County, they have ‘black water watches’ so that the first person who sees black water come into the creek can notify the rest of the people in the area,” Stokely told me when I met up with the duo later.
Both women spoke quite a bit about Kentucky. About how the beautiful land was prone to catastrophes; how industry influence keeps them stuck with “shitty politicians representing us to the rest of the world”; and how you can’t really call a terrible flood "a natural disaster" when “they have blown the top of the mountains off.” But most of all, they spoke about how all these — the ravaged land, the stranglehold of the dying coal industry, the corrupt politicians — are not the whole picture.
From music and bourbon to horses and grand vistas, Kentucky and its people have a lot more to offer. But to see that, we need to set aside “age-old stereotypes that are still being used to keep Appalachians down,” Hobbs said. And, above all, she said, our nation needs to support the creation of alternative economies in these places. Because so far, “Kentucky and Appalachia haven’t been offered another option.”
Instead, one of the big projects proposed in the state right now is a $500 million federal prison — atop a former toxic coal mine.
Maureen Nandini Mitra
Editor-in-Chief, Earth Island Journal
PS: You can read all about the prison project soon in our summer issue, which we just sent off to the printer.
Photo of The Local Honeys by Erica Chambers
TOP STORIES
Grub of Choice
Mopane worms, a vital source of protein in southern Africa, are under increasing pressure from over-harvesting. One entrepreneur hopes that latching on to the international edible insect trend will help the grubs and the habitats they depend on.
READ MORE
The Snot Collectors
Arctic researchers need whale snot samples to monitor cetacean health, but gathering those samples is no easy task. Enter: budget-friendly consumer drones.
READ MORE
People-Powered Journalism
Because of generous reader donations, Earth Island Journal can say things that corporate media won’t say.
Reader support gives us the independence to amplify voices and perspectives that strengthen communities, especially communities that don’t have access to corporate media.
Your support is essential to our long-term success. And with your help, we can reshape the media landscape. Won't you join us today?
I Support Earth Island Journal
Mad Bees on the Brink
In the Nepalese Himalayas, Indigenous tribes have long hunted the “mad honey” of wild bees, which is known for its hallucinogenic properties. But this age-old ecological relationship may be under threat.
READ MORE
ICYMI
Grand Misadventure
What happens when a former magazine editor shows up for a harrowing Grand Canyon trek unprepared and out-of-shape? An embarrassing outcome that makes for an entertaining read.
READ MORE >>
Photo by M. Quinn / NPS
An Act of Recovery
“Ice patch archaeology struck me as an act of recovery, an attempt to catch falling pieces as the climate broke down.” An intriguing essay on searching for “sundry pieces of individual lives” before they are lost in the melt.
READ MORE >>
Photo by trailcrumb / Flickr
Did a thoughtful friend forward you our newsletter? Keep up with the latest from Earth Island Journal!
SIGN UP TODAY
Follow
Follow
Subscribe
You are receiving this email newsletter because you signed up on our website.
If this newsletter was forwarded to you, you can sign up to the email newsletter here.
Support our work by subscribing to our quarterly print magazine.
Copyright © 2023 Earth Island Journal, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
Earth Island Journal
2150 Allston Way Ste 460
Berkeley, CA 94704-1375
Add us to your address book
No longer want to receive these emails? Unsubscribe
