The Ohio-based folk band Magnolia Mountain has just released a new music video documenting the environmental and human impact of mountaintop removal coal mining.
The song, “The Hand of Man,” was released as part of a new 21-track album with bands from Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia performing songs about protecting the Appalachian Mountains and surrounding communities from destructive coal mining practices.
Mountaintop removal mining is exactly what it sounds like: Explosives are used to to blow up mountains in order to access coal reserves, thus forcing rocks and soil into valleys and increasing concentrations of mercury and arsenic in water supplies. According to researchers from Washington State University and West Virginia University, communities located near mountaintop mining sites have seen double the amount of birth defects than the national rate. To date, almost 3,000 mountain ridges have been blown apart to access coal.
Watch the music video:
They say our nation needs our coalAnd that is worth our lives and homesWe have no wealth, we have no voiceWe have no power and no choice
’Twas the hand of man brought a mountain downOh, the hand of man brought a mountain down’Twas the hand of man brought a mountain downOh, the hand of man brought a mountain down
The multi-artist album, “Music for the Mountains” was organized by Magnolia Mountain’s lead singer and guitarist Mark Utley. The groups have already raised more than $11,000 dollars for organizations in Ohio and Kentucky working to end mountaintop removal coal mining.
Related Post:
- Science bombshell explodes myth of clean coal: Mountaintop “mining permits are being issued despite the preponderance of scientific evidence that impacts are pervasive and irreversible and that mitigation cannot compensate for losses.”