What happens to a community historically centered around coal mining when the coal runs out?
The story of fossil fuels is a story of booms and busts, and reports indicate that Central Appalachia is on the brink of the greatest bust yet. Central Appalachian coal is running out — the U.S. Energy Information Administration anticipates a steep decrease in production — and the seams that remain are thin and difficult to mine.
But as coal-impacted communities fight for a cleaner future and work toward a proactive economic transition, we’re not limited to knowledge of the here and now. Across the Atlantic Ocean, among mountains that are geological kin to the green ridgelines of Appalachia, communities in Wales have also dealt with fallout from the globalization of coal markets, decreased coal reserves and environmental degradation.
An attentive audience packed into a room at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., yesterday afternoon to discuss what happens in coal-impacted communities when the coal is gone. The event, hosted by the Center for Appalachian Studies, brought together the Center’s director, Dr. Patricia Beaver, documentary filmmaker Tom Hansell, and celebrated regional sociologist Helen Lewis.
The trio shared film clips from Hansell’s in-progress documentary, “After Coal: Welsh and Appalachian Mining Communities,” and from footage collected during the ‘70s and ‘80s by Welsh and Appalachian filmmakers.
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