I've known Barbara Strangfeld all my life, and one of the many things I admire about her is the passion she has to make a difference in the world. Barbara is a tireless crusader and right now she is lending her voice to educate the public about the practice of mountaintop removal. Barbara is a volunteer for both I Love Mountains and Appalachian Voices.

The US Environmental Protection Agency defines mountaintop removal as:

“Mountaintop removal/valley fill is a mining practice where the tops of mountains are removed, exposing the seams of coal. Mountaintop removal can involve removing 500 feet or more of the summit to get at buried seams of coal. The earth from the mountaintop is then dumped in the neighboring valleys.”

This is a practice that destroys entire landscapes. All of the vegetation is removed, and usually it is simply burned -- so all the plants and trees are wasted in the developer's rush to get at the coal. Tons of explosives are used to blow up the mountain, and then large machines dig out the sediment and dump it in surrounding areas, often burying streams. This process pollutes drinking water, obliterates rural areas where people live and work, and threatens people's homes with flooding once the trees and vegetation are no longer present to stop runoff.

Stopping mountaintop removal is a David and Goliath battle, pitting the people who want to save the environment against huge coal companies. Earlier this year Barbara started a blog at H2O podcast.com to add her voice to the cause. For her efforts to speak out against this practice, Barbara Strangfeld is my very cool person of the month.

I will also be interviewing Barbara at www.klgoing.com/forums on September 15 through 19. Please stop in and learn what you can do to help!

Hopefully, if you're reading this, you'll take the time to visit:
www.ilovemountains.org
You can also check out Barbara's podcast at:
www.h2opodcast.com/mountains

~ KL ~