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Blog Post #6 Problem: There has been excess consumption and production of coal for energy sources, which has caused environmental, health, and economic concerns in Eastern Kentucky. Background/Context History of Mining in Eastern Kentucky - Mining began in the 1800's to power the trains that ran through eastern Kentucky - Eastern Kentucky Coalfield includes 30 Kentucky Counties - Coal mines are slowly shutting down in places like Hazard Kentucky, raising the unemployment rate and forcing people to look elsewhere for work. Trump has promised to re-ignite the coal industry and bring back jobs to places like eastern Kentucky. - Currently 25% of Hazard's population lives in poverty, to put that in perspective, the national average is 13.1% - Abandoned coal mines continue to make a negative impact on the environment, health, and economy in eastern Kentucky Kavilanz, Parija. “How This Kentucky Coal Town Is Trying to Bring Its Economy Back to Life.”  CNNMoney , Cable Ne...

Blog Post #5 Below is a brainstorm of a specific topic for our documentary. I have included a bunch of links we can use to follow up if we decide to go forward with this specific topic. Brainstorm:              We would like to focus on how abandoned coal mines in Kentucky have impacted the environment and what solutions we can put into place to help reverse the environmental effects of coal mining. We are specifically looking at rural communities in Kentucky such as Pikeville and Eastern Kentucky. Mining today disturbs 3 times as much land as it did in the 1980s according to https://www.kentucky.com/news/state/article215487870.html . There are about 50,000 abandoned coal mines in the United States and 12,408 of those are classified as ‘Priority 3’ ( https://skytruth.org/2015/10/mapping-abandoned-coal-mines/ ) Priority 3 mines pose a threat to the safety and health of the surrounding people and environment. The Aban...