Can Coal Ever Be Clean? Check Out “Burning the Future: Coal In America” to Find Out

[Update - May 1st, 2008: "Burning the Future: Coal in America" will be airing again soon on the Sundance Channel, May 13th, 16th, and 18th. In addition, the DVD's will go on sale next week on the film's website: www.burningthefuture.com.]

Can coal ever be clean?

These guys are spending tens of millions trying to convince you, the American voter, that the future of America’s energy lies with “clean coal.”

A new documentary film, “Burning the Future: Coal in America” aims to clue Americans in on why “slightly less deadly coal” is probably a more accurate term for what the spooked coal industry is trying to push these days. Or maybe “laundered coal.” But “clean?” Well check out the trailer and see what you think:

Here’s the film’s short synopsis:

In Burning the Future: Coal in America, writer/director David Novack examines the explosive forces that have set in motion a groundswell of conflict between the coal industry and residents of West Virginia. Confronted by an emerging coal-based US energy policy, local activists watch the nation praise coal without regard to the devastation caused by its extraction. Faced with toxic ground water, the obliteration of 1.4 million acres of mountains, and a government that appeases industry, our heroes demonstrate a strength of purpose and character in their improbable fight to arouse the nation’s help in protecting their mountains, saving their families, and preserving their way of life.

[Update - May 1st, 2008: "Burning the Future: Coal in America" will be airing again soon on the Sundance Channel, May 13th, 16th, and 18th. In addition, the DVD's will go on sale next week on the film's website: www.burningthefuture.com.]

No coal is clean coal!

2 Responses to “Can Coal Ever Be Clean? Check Out “Burning the Future: Coal In America” to Find Out”


  1. 1 Ivona Vujica May 1st, 2008 at 9:08 pm

    Abolition of King Coal and Coal-Fired Plants Everywhere - No Nukes! No Uranium Mining!

    Stop the Global Warming Machines!
    Stop the Coming Genocides - Food/Water/Energy Chaos!

    Weekly Vigil - presently May 4, 2008

    Sundays Noon-1pm
    Ottawa, Ontario - Canada
    U.S. Embassy
    490 Sussex Dr.

    Paradigm Shift Environmental Alliance
    psea4earth@gmail.com

    Please see the following links or google “abolition of coal”
    http://quebec.indymedia.org/en/node/28427

  2. 2 Dana! May 2nd, 2008 at 12:20 pm

    Hey, if you want to be part of the action in this movie, check out http://www.mountainjusticesummer.org which helped plan a lot of these actions. The training camp is May 17-23 in Harlan County, KY, and will lead into an amazing summer of internships, days of action and campaigning against coal and coal fired power plants.

    Actually, the final scenes of this movie were shot at Mountain Justice Spring Break in 2007, planned by groups like SEAC (www.seac.org) Coal River Mountain Watch (www.crmw.net) and the Southern Energy Network (www.climateaction.net) and OVEC (www.ohvec.org). To be a part of MJSB 2009, visit http://www.mjsb.org — it’s planned mostly be student and youth volunteers.

    This may seem like a shameless commercial for the groups in this movie, but I’m really just excited and proud to see our Appalachian hard work get such national coverage, and I want to invite everyone to be a part of the excitement. Don’t just watch movies, be a part of them!

    Yeah!

    Dana (at Seac.org)

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About Jesse


Jesse is a young activist, organizer, policy analyst and blogger. He is currently the co-director the IN campaign at the Breakthrough Institute and helps Breakthrough develop and advance new energy solutions to power America's future, secure our energy freedom, and halt global warming. Jesse joined the Breakthrough team in June 2008 to co-direct the Breakthrough Generation Summer Fellows Program. Before joining the Breakthrough Institute, Jesse spent two years as a Research and Policy Associate at the Renewable Northwest Project where he worked to advance the development of the Pacific Northwest's abundant renewable energy potential. While at RNP, he helped pass two statewide renewable energy standards (in WA and OR) and block plans to build 800 MW of new coal plants. In the past, Jesse has worked as a researcher and software developer with the Department of Physics at the University of Oregon, where he focused on alternative vehicles and fuels, and as a teacher's assistant in energy studies courses at the university. Jesse has a long history of grassroots climate and energy activism and co-founded the Cascade Climate Network, the Northwest's largest network of youth working to tackle the climate crisis and build a sustainable, just, and prosperous future. An active blogger, Jesse is the founder and blogmaster of the site, WattHead - Energy News and Commentary. He currently writes at several sites throughout the blogosphere and has been featured in the San Francisco Chronicle and Baltimore Sun. Jesse graduated in 2006 with a B.S. from the Robert D. Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon, where he completed an interdisciplinary course of study in computer science, philosophy, liberal arts, political science & energy studies. Jesse currently lives in Berkeley, CA.

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