Mountaintop Mining is explored in an article in the January 2009 issue of Smithsonian Magazine.  Check it out at smithsonianmag.com.

As introduced in the magazine:

Mining the Mountains

Explosives and giant machines are destroying Appalachian peaks to obtain coal.  In a tiny West Virginia town, residents and industry fight over a mountain's fate.

By John McQuaid

Excerpts:

"I've reported on devastation around the world -- from natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, to wars in Central America and the Middle East, to coastlines in Asia degraded by fish farming. But in the sheer audacity of its destruction, mountaintop coal removal is the most shocking thing I've ever seen."

 "We are sitting in the most productive and diverse temperate hardwood forest on the planet. There are more kinds of organisms living in the southern Appalachians than in any other forest ecosystem in the world."

"Follow one of the old mining roads toward the top of Ansted's 2,500-foot ridge and the picturesque view changes startlingly. Once the road passes the crest, the mountain becomes an industrial zone."

To read the article, visit www.smithsonianmag.com