Waubonsee Community College

Thunder on the mountain, death at Massey and the dirty secrets behind big coal, Peter A. Galuszka

eng

illustrationsplates

index present

non fiction

Thunder on the mountain

778422636

Peter A. Galuszka

death at Massey and the dirty secrets behind big coal

On April 5, 2010, an explosion ripped through Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch Mine, killing twenty-nine coal miners. This tragedy was the deadliest mine disaster in the United States in forty years--a disaster that never should have happened. These deaths were rooted in the cynical corporate culture of Massey and its notorious former CEO Don Blankenship, and were part of a cycle of poverty, exploitation, and environmental abuse that has dominated Appalachia since coal was first discovered there. And the cycle continues unabated as coal companies bury the most insidious dangers deep underground and hide the true costs. But the disaster goes beyond West Virginia. It casts a global shadow, calling into bitter question why coal miners in the United States are sacrificed to erect cities on the other side of the world, and how the world's voracious appetite for energy is satisfied at such horrendous cost.--From publisher description

Death at Upper Big Branch -- Renegade CEO -- Up the Hollow -- The roots of Massey Energy -- Big Coal's ugly and bright future -- Strip-mining on steroids -- Dark as a dungeon -- Coal country culture wars -- Pulling the trigger on Don -- Asia's appetite -- Alpha's rotten apple