Eric Reece employs several emotional strategies to convey his findings about the destruction caused my mountain-top removal coal mining. His book, Lost Mountain, includes many personal accounts of the inhabitants living in the affected areas (both human and animal alike). Reece recounts the processes used by the coal miners in Appalachia as an outsider looking in on the devastation on the surrounding land and indirectly on both the people and wildlife that are dependent upon it.
Reece gives several examples of individuals who are fighting to bring their homeland back to its majestic state from the past. I feel like this is a rather effective manner to portray his concern for the land. Personal accounts of the destruction caused by mountain-top coal removal make the matter seem more of a priority to others who are further removed from the situation.
On page 55 of Lost Mountain, Reece relays some astonishing statistics about the amount of land a human needs to survive. He states that "For the rest of the world to live as Americans, we would need four more Planet Earths." Reece often uses statistics such as these, along with references to other published works to give credibility to the severity concerning this particular issue.
After reading this section of Lost Mountain, I am glad for my further awareness of this issue. I would not necessarily consider myself an environmentalist, but I believe that general awareness of any issue is the first step toward the recovery process of said issue. I am going to try to be more conscious in the future of my role (however small it may seem in comparison) in the impending trouble caused by coal-mining in my neighboring states. Every little bit will help in the long-run. As Reece mentions, it is important to look forward to the future and not only be concerned with immediate problems. Eventually, our fossil fuels will run out and we have not done enough to replenish the environment from our destruction or move toward alternative fuel sources for when that day comes.
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I really like the fact that you mentioned the amount of space that each person requires. As the population of the planet continues to grow, we will undoubtably consume more and more. Like you said, the fossil fuels that we have are not going to last forever, and with the exponential growth in population they might run out faster than predicted. The fact that you are already making a conscious effort to change some of your own practices makes it seem like you have taken some of Reece's most important points to heart.
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