"The Mountaintop Removal Road Show" will come to Lynchburg College Wednesday, March 18 to increase awareness of mining in the southern Appalachians and the human and environmental impact it creates.
The presentation will be from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. in Hopwood Auditorium with refreshments at 4 p.m.
The Mountaintop Removal Road Show includes a 20-minute slide show about the impacts of mountaintop removal on coalfield residents, communities and the environment, and features traditional Appalachian mountain music and aerial photos of decapitated Appalachian Mountains.
Dave Cooper, a resident of Lexington, Kentucky, will give the presentation. After 20 years working as a mechanical engineer in various industries, most recently at the 3M plant in Kentucky that makes Post-it notes, he decided to devote his full attention to environmental issues after seeing a mountaintop removal mine on Kayford Mountain, W.Va.
Cooper is a member of the Sierra Club and Mountain Justice, and worked for a year as a coalfield organizer for the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (OVEC). He is currently on a national speaking tour to educate communities across America about mountaintop removal.
The Mountaintop Removal Road Show has been shown more than 600 times in 22 states since 2003. There is no charge for the presentation and all speakers are volunteers; however, donations and honorariums to defray gas and travel expenses are gratefully accepted.