Hard to Know What to Do

"Foothills of the Appalachians"--where I'm from.

"Underground mining used to be the lifeblood of the region. It is being replaced by strip-mining, which often entails 'mountaintop removal'--literally blasting the tops off some of the oldest mountains in the world."   
  ~ Jedediah Purdy, WVa native, author, environmentalist

My grandfather looked like this, coming home every night.
He died of Black Lung. My aunt said he was
 lying on the couch and it was like his lung exploded.
I don't know what really happened but that's how she told it.

"That's the only jobs in the area. Factories everywhere is shutting down. What could they put here that would come remotely close to being what coal and the industry of coal is to the people of West Virginia?"   
    ~ Linda Dials, wife of 3rd 
        generation coal miner