Environmentalist to speak at UIU
Topic is coal mining mountain-top removal
FAYETTE, Iowa (October 17, 2007) – Mechanical 
engineer turned environmentalist Dave Cooper will speak on the devastating effects of mountain-top coal mining this Thursday, Oct. 25, on the Upper Iowa University (UIU) campus. His slideshow and presentation will take place in Baker-Hebron Hall, Room 101 from Noon to 1:00 p.m. The public is welcome to attend.
Over 300,000 acres of the most beautiful and productive hardwood forests in America have already been turned into barren grassland, Cooper says. In West Virginia and eastern Kentucky, from where Cooper originates, coal companies have blasted as much as 600 feet off of Appalachian Mountain tops. The rock and debris are then dumped into mountain streams, causing increased flooding and contaminated drinking water, not to mention noise, dust and destruction from the constant blasting.
“The mountain-top removal issue is pretty well known in West Virginia, but outside the state not too many people know our mountains are being flattened,” says Cooper. “When they find out about it they are horrified and want to take action to help.” Although there is little coal mining in Iowa, the state depends on electrical power generated by the coal mined in other states. More than half of the electricity generated in the United States comes from burning coal. Cooper says the goal of his speaking tour, called The Mountaintop Removal Road Show, is to educate Americans in hopes of turning that knowledge into widespread action.
The presentation is sponsored by the Upper Iowa Science and Environment Club. For more information, contact Assistant Professor of Geosciences Katherine McCarville at 563-425-5233 or mccarvillek@uiu.edu or go to www.mountainroadshow.com/calendar/.