Dear Friend,
Greetings. I am writing this letter to ask for your help raising funds on behalf of my Asheville, NC-based colleagues who are are making a film that will expose the human and environmental impacts of a devastating coal mining practice called "mountaintop removal." If you’ve never heard of mountaintop removal, don’t be surprised. It’s the dirty secret behind our nation’s electrical outlets. The energy companies don’t really want to publicize the fact that we are blowing up the oldest mountains in the world for cheap electricity.
Mountaintop removal is exactly what it sounds like. Coal companies blow the tops off mountains to get the coal out as cheaply and quickly as possible. Then they bury headwater streams with the mining spoil. Seeing it from the air will take your breath away. Thousands and thousands of acres of diverse hardwood forests have already been reduced to rubble.
Since I was a kid I have felt a need to do what I can to protect Mother Earth. I have educated myself about environmental issues and I have seen places where the Earth is being exploited for profit. But I can tell you, there is no environmental scene of destruction quite like a mountaintop removal site. Mountains are where we go for spiritual renewal; they teach us what it is to endure, what it is to be permanent. Blowing them up to power a hairdryer or a big screen TV is insanity, but that is exactly what is happening.
Mountaintop removal is also a human tragedy for the people who live nearby. Local families have seen their air polluted and their drinking water poisoned. Every day, the blasting from mines rattles their homes, reminding them of the ongoing destruction of the mountains they grew up in, never imagining they would be blown away.
This film, ON COAL RIVER, tells the story of mountaintop removal through the lives of people like Ed Wiley - a remarkable man who has been a great personal inspiration to me. Ed is a former coal miner whose granddaughter attends an elementary school that sits next to a mountaintop removal site. Seeing footage of this elementary school, with the sludge dam and the coal silo looming over it, you start to understand what some people are willing to sacrifice - for cheap coal.
A few years ago, Ed’s granddaughter convinced him that the coal mine was making her sick, and Ed had an awakening. He stopped working for the coal companies, and he and his family embarked on an incredible journey to bring attention to building a new school, in a safe location. That summer, Ed was inspired to walk from West Virginia to Washington DC, teaching people along the way about mountaintop removal and his granddaughter’s school. This kind of story - about a humble man moved to take action to protect his granddaughter and to protect the Earth -- is the kind of story that can truly make a difference. When Ed’s story is screened in theaters, broadcasted on national TV and classrooms across the country, mountaintop removal will be stopped in its tracks.
With your help, this dream could become a reality. Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood are two experienced and dedicated filmmakers who have been working on this project for over three years because they believe -- like I do -- in the importance and the power of this story. I know in my heart that this film will deeply touch a lot of people who have no idea about what is happening to the hills and hollows of Appalachia.
For ON COAL RIVER to come to life, it’s absolutely necessary for us to pull together and pitch in. That’s why I’m asking you to help now, and to make the most generous donation you can to support this project.
There are two ways you can help: log on to oncoalriver.com to securely donate with your credit card, or mail a check payable to:
The Southern Documentary Fund
762 Ninth St. #574
Durham, NC 27705
(IMPORTANT! Please be sure to write "On Coal River" in the memo line.)
Whether it’s a contribution of $10 or $10,000, every dollar helps and is 100% tax-deductible. You’ll know that you took a step, today, to stop the insane practice of Mountaintop removal.
Thank you for honoring the mountains with the time you took to read this letter. I hope we hear from you very soon.
P.S. The story of Mountaintop removal coal mining is heartbreaking, but this film also communicates the courage of the people working to abolish this practice that is destroying Appalachia, and the beauty of the land and people they are trying to protect. Please . . . I urge you to take a moment right now to contribute as generously as you can.