In the second section of Lost Mountain, Reece continues to speak to the local communities about the negative effects of the strip mining. In the chapter “what is a flying squirrel worth” Reece meets a Teacher named Jim Krupa who offers the following insight about the current situation. “with our levels of population and rates of consumption, it’s just a matter of time before we kill ourselves off, It’s not something I tell my freshman”. I found this very shocking yet believable given the facts for Reece thus far in the book.
I found a quote that reminded me of information that I had learned in history classes in grade school. The quote was spoken by Harry Cauldill speaking about the coal companies communities, “Though he might revert on occasion to his ancestral agriculture, he would never again free himself from dependence upon his new war lords”. A humorous but riveting description that Reece gives about the “post mining” contour was “Post mining contour is flat as a dead man EKG. When I first looked at the map it seemed impossible”.
In the last chapter of this section we finally get to hear something positive. Reese describes the Ecovillage, which offers some hope. Waste is converted to clean water via plants and , and can be used in toilets and to for laundry, by plants. “Because what we think of as waste- plants think its food”. The Principle of the Ecovillage is to follow the laws of nature. The Ecovillage uses 75% less energy than normal residential neighborhood. I feel like Reece did a good job of ending his description of the Ecovillage with a powerful quote, “they have to understand the impacts and they have to understand the alternatives” . As an engineer I feel that this is the basic and most effective way of solving a problem such as the strip mining situation.
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I thought this part of the book was crucial because positive things are not spoken of very much throughout this reading. This makes it nice that with all the devastation that is going on down there, there is still somewhat of a positive thing happening.
ReplyDeleteIt would be great if we could all live in an environment like the ecovillage, but I don't see this happening. Not many people would be willing to give up their current lifestyles. Also, how much energy would be expended in changing everything to ecohouse standards? I'm not saying that this is a bad idea, or that the long run gains wouldn't be worth the short term costs, but it just seems a little to "pie in the sky" to happen anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteI agree, this portion of the book is how I see where I can make a difference in the energy crisis: by cutting down my consumption, we'll burn less coal... however, less energy does not mean the end of strip mining, it just means less strip mining.
ReplyDeleteI would have to say that Ecovillage was a nice break from the doom and gloom of the rest of his narrative. But how from a pragmatic standpoint, could one possibly convince a coal- and oil-dependent nation that a greener way of life is better? "If it don't make dollars, it don't make sense." This whole book is a story of money trumps lives, flying squirrels, etc. Right now, the environmental world is a very cost-consuming venture in the short-term, and yes we can talk about long-term, but no one listens. And its not that their dumb or arrogant, its because people are short-sighted and unwilling to note the tremendous impact they have on the world around them.
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