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Appalachian Mountaintop Removal
After years of working to raise awareness about mountaintop removal, I
think it's amazing to see how the partnership between Google Earth and
Appalachian Voices has helped to expose the impact of mountaintop
removal by allowing people to see it for themselves. 
- Woody Harrelson, actor and environmentalist
IntroductionMountaintop removal coal mining is changing the American landscape on a scale that is hard to comprehend unless you see it from the air. Anyone who has ever flown in a small aircraft over southern West Virginia or eastern Kentucky will never forget the experience of seeing the massive scale of destruction - mountain after mountain blown up and dumped into valleys as far as the eye can see. Mountaintop removal affects more than mountains and streams, however; it is threatening to displace and destroy a distinctly American culture that has persisted in the Appalachian Mountains for generations. Appalachian people working to save their communities have long dreamed of ways to fly reporters, decision-makers, and thousands of other Americans over the Appalachian coalfields to see this destruction first hand - and then to visit their communities to hear stories of people who endure the consequences of what some have called "cheap energy." Now, thanks to Google Earth, a pretty good approximation of that tour is accessible to anyone who has a computer and a high-speed internet connection, extending our reach by millions of people. As Mary Anne Hitt, Executive Director of Appalachian Voices said: "Google Earth has transformed how we think about the issue, because it not only allows millions of people around the world to see and explore the impact on our region, but it also allows people right here in Appalachia to see for themselves what is going on in the mountains above their homes and communities." The Appalachian Mountaintop Removal layer was produced by Appalachian Voices as the centerpiece of iLoveMountains.org, an online action and resource center launched in September of 2006. Through iLoveMountains.org, 7 grassroots organizations from across Appalachia are using cutting edge technology to reveal the devastation of their mountains and communities and to build a national movement to end the practice. In addition to Appalachian Voices, partners in iLoveMountains.org include Coal River Mountain Watch, Keeper of the Mountains Foundation, Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Save Our Cumberland Mountains, and Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards.Our GoalsAs we've become more experienced in using the Google Earth platform, our goals for our Appalachian Mountaintop Removal layer have become increasingly ambitious. When we launched iLoveMountains.org, we wanted to lift the cloak of secrecy that for decades had hidden mountaintop removal not only from the American people, but also from the communities directly below the mine sites.Initially, our goals were to:
Our KML ImplementationOur KML implementation thus far has been completed in two distinct stages. The initial KML consisted of a 4 layer map with links to various other KML resources accessed through description balloons.The initial Appalachian Mountaintop Removal layer, [which currenly resides in the Global Awareness folder of Google Earth] included:
Since we were able to generate the initial KML code simply through the use of ARC2Earth software installed on our GIS system and compiling all of the resources into a KML using Google Earth Pro, we were able to start this project without any proficiency in KML programming at all. Preparing the ultimate KML file that was included in the Global Awareness layer required learning KML to create a high-quality end product. The second stage, launched in November of 2007, links users to an interactive website and MySQL database that generates a particular KML showing the user's connection to mountaintop removal based on a zip code or other input provided by the user. The implementation of the second stage - showing people their connection to mountaintop removal through their zip code - was considerably more technically complicated than the first. The objective was to connect visitors to the existing featured mountains and communities in a more personal way, incorporating user feedback (i.e., zip code) to generate - on the fly - a KML showing the details of that user's connection to mountaintop removal mines supplying the coal-fired power plants on his or her electric grid. Through the "My Connection" tool, visitors are linked to an interactive PHP web page where their zip code, typed into a web form, is used to query a MySQL database to identify their particular electricity provider, the coal-fired power plants operated by that utility, and the actual mine sites that have supplied those plants with coal over the past five years. The results are returned in a 2-D Google Maps mashup with a link to a KML file packaging the same information for Google Earth. The website provides both a graphical and textual description of a user's mountaintop removal connection, as well as a narrative description of a community impacted by the mountaintop removal operations associated the user's connection.
Type in your zip code above to get a Google Earth file of your connection. While the Google Maps mashup draws color-coded lines to show a visitor's connections to power plants and mountaintop removal mines, the 3-D capabilities of KML allowed for a much more impressive presentation of these connections. Not only does Google Earth convey the destruction caused by mountaintop removal in a far more effective way because of its 3-D capabilities, but using arcs in Google Earth to connect users to power plants and mine sites makes it far easier to visualize and understand the complex web of connections than is possible in a 2-D environment. The MySQL database linking zip codes to mine sites was constructed from four separate data sets, including:
A multitude of staff, interns, contractors, and volunteers from a number of organizations contributed to various aspects of this project, including the mapping of impacted mountains; the collection of photos, videos, and stories for featured mountains; and the production of before-and-after overlays. Creating the web-based and KML interfaces for the project was the work of three staff members at Appalachian Voices.
Exposure, Recognition, and ImpactThe use of Google Earth has transformed the way we think about our work, and has brought the mountaintop removal issue to a massive new audience. The site has received major national media coverage and recognition for innovation. Images and videos from our KML layers have been presented to dozens of live audiences, ranging from small church groups and rotary clubs to large conferences and keynote presentations at environmental events.
Illustration of the mountaintop removal blasting process; dynamite holes visible in the imagery. Enlarge image One of the most important successes of the site has been our ability to attract and engage an ever-growing network of individuals who are becoming active, long-term partners in our work. Over 25,000 people have signed up on the site and joined our network of supporters, and that number is increasing every day. The site is also being used heavily by local coalfield residents to view the mining activity around their homes. We have publicized the launch and updates to our KML through a variety of venues, including press releases and a press conference in Washington, DC, email messages to thousands of supporters, and banner ads on some popular blogs and online magazines. Publicly launching our project in Google Earth and participating in Google's Global Awareness program has elevated the profile of the mountaintop removal issue astronomically. In the ten days following release of the Appalachian Mountaintop Removal KML in Google Earth, more than 13,000 people from every US state and more than 30 countries signed our online petition to stop the dumping of mountaintop mining waste into waterways. Not only has this endeavor brought additional regional and national media attention to the issue (with stories in hundreds of newspapers nationwide), but the traffic on iLoveMountains.org and the number of people joining the movement to stop mountaintop removal has been boosted to a new level. Just as important, this project's partnership of a half-dozen less-than-tech-savvy grassroots organizations from across Appalachia has created a new and much stronger framework for cooperation of local and regional organizations on the national stage. We are already working together to create additional projects to release on the Google Earth platform, and our ability to share information and resources with each other has expanded tremendously. Before we embarked on this project, we didn't fully appreciated the potential of Google Earth to provide a framework for organizing and sharing information geographically in all aspects of our work. We now view all new projects through the lens of Google Earth and Google Maps, and we are continuing to develop new applications of the technology to tell the story of mountaintop removal, capture the public's imagination, and mobilize and expand our base of supporters. Recent articles written about the ilovemountains.org website include:
Advice To OthersWe have heard from dozens of people who are considering developing projects on Google Earth, and our main messages to them have been:
Linkshttp://www.ilovemountains.org/memorial/http://www.ilovemountains.org/memorial_tutorial http://www.ilovemountains.org/multimedia/#ge http://www.ilovemountains.org/myconnection http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/679588629
AuthorsMary Anne Hitt, Executive DirectorMatthew Wasson, Ph.D, Conservation Director, Appalachian Voices
ContactMary Anne Hitt, Executive Directoremail: mahitt@appvoices.org |
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