Religion and Resistance in Appalachia: Faith and the Fight Against Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

In the last fifty years, the Appalachian Mountains have suffered permanent and profound change due to the expansion of surface coal mining. The irrevocable devastation caused by this practice has forced local citizens to redefine their identities, their connections to global economic forces, their pasts, and their futures. Religion is a key factor in the fierce debate over mountaintop removal
some argue that it violates a divine mandate to protect the earth, while others contend that coal mi