I COMMEND your readers to read a book entitled Gray Mountain, by American attorney-cum-author John Grisham.
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While the principal characters of the story are fictitious, the storyline is a frightening portrayal of the coal mining technique practised in Virginia and adjoining states.
What we Australians refer to as “open-cut” mining Americans know as “strip mining”.
I am sure that anyone who has seen such an operation would agree that strip mining is a more accurate title.
Open-cut mining strips away all vegetation, all topsoil and any possible of proper future rehabilitation.
The Virginia experience has resulted in the loss of food-producing capability, toxic pollution of water sources, increased cancer rates and respiratory problems, and the failure of mining companies to meet their obligations.
The bulk of American coal mines are owned by absentee landlords, already something we are familiar with, given the failure of successive federal governments to protect our interests.
What will the future hold when the mines have finished raping the countryside?
Witness the damage coal seam gas exploration has done in the Pilliga.
Our current political masters see only the dollar of today.
If ever there was a need for a strong independent voice, free of commercial and party allegiances, to represent and protect the New England, it is now.
Geoff Parker
Glen Innes