Customer Reviews

Burning the Future: Coal in America

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The documentary provided opportunity for both sides to air their views and opinions. These sides included coal company employees, politicians, landowners, and scientists.

Undoubtedly the landowners and scientists win this argument simply through the terrific visuals of the ugliness of mountain top removal and scarred landscapes. It was most interesting to go into a mine, but coal is an ugly and dirty business with deep pockets as this film shows.

The film also shows that Coal has brainwashed most of West Virginia into believing it is clean and cheap. Somehow most don't see the long term effects of water polution, greenhouse gas emissions, destroyed ecosystems and environmental/public health risks. There was even a coal miner that said that coal was created during Noah's Great Flood. This would be funny if it wasn't so sad to see such ignorance of basic science. But, even more disturbing were the scenes showing young students on school field trips to coal fired power plants being lectured by devoted employees talking about the "wonders" of coal.

And so the circle continues for the citizens of West Virginia. Watch it, and you will see the march of folly in action.

An informative look at environmental and health impacts of coal mining in West Virginia. Why coal isn't a good bet for our energy future.

This is an AMAZING documentary that everyone should watch. It's unforgettable, and for good reason. This will change your life.

First off, you may want to watch the special features before the main one. The special features speaks about the dangerous cause-and-effects of coal in a much more succinct fashion. The main documentary spends the first five minutes in a coal mine for no reason. This is an example of making a documentary longer than it had to be.
In the fair journalism mode, the documentary interviews coal's supporters. However, this work clearly has a viewpoint and it is far from impartial. This is a green documentary very proud of itself. I wonder how they encouraged the opposition's participation here.
Waste pools have spilled killing individuals. People can't eat fish in the few streams left. This work really gives West Virginia a bad look. Those with state pride may feel insulted here. Folk can't really eat the fish they catch. The water from natural resources are sooty from pollution. This adds that there's really no such thing as "clean coal," there's just stuff not as bad as the current stuff.
I love and applaud green messages, but they can be so depressing. If you don't like hearing bad news, it will be difficult to watch this whole documentary. When I saw a work on how solar energy, wind power, and even algae may save the planet, I watched with ease and felt hopeful. This is not that happy type of work! Some people knew what was going to happen in "Return of the Sith," but that doesn't mean they wanted to experience it. Those who are easily put in a bad mood will have trouble watching this documentary.