WeLoveMountains

Blame it on the Lorax. Maybe.

That fictional character had a major impact on me and my family when it comes to environmental matters. In fact, my son is probably more rabid about the environment than I am.

And it may be in part because my wife and I read and re-read the Dr. Seuss book "The Lorax," to him when he was but a wee lad.

Coalfield residents both for and against mountaintop removal mining crowded the Holiday Inn Charleston House earlier this week to speak to a proposal from the Bush administration that would remove a mining rule that, if it were enforced as it currently stands, could limit that form of mining.

Environmentalists say the rule should not be changed but should be enforced. If changed the way the administration wants to change it, waste piles could be placed in stream buffer zones, thereby destroying perhaps hundred of miles of small mountain streams.

Coal operators and those who mine coal were at the hearing to say that they are environmentalists, too, and that they leave reclaimed mining sites in good shape and ready for development.

I tend to agree with the environmentalists, and "The Lorax" may be to blame. It's one of Dr. Seuss' most controversial books, and was first published in 1971, the year our son was born.

It tells the story of the Lorax, who speaks for the Truffula trees and against the greedy Once-ler, who wants to destroy them out of pure greed.

It was written during a time when old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest were being destroyed at an alarming rate and we in West Virginia were just beginning to destroy entire forests using mountaintop removal techniques to get at the coal.

The book was even banned in some schools in places where forestry is the major way of making a living.

I can understand that. Although it's a kid's book, it's contains a powerful message.

I don't know if Judy Bonds, West Virginia environmentalist extraordinaire, ever read the book to herself or her kids, but I'll bet she did.

But since she lives in the area where there is a direct effect from mountaintop removal, her stake in the mining practice is more direct. She doesn't need a book for inspiration.

I still believe there are alternatives to mountaintop removal mining.

As a spokesperson for the trees and streams, I realize that taking the tops of mountains off to get to coal is easy and efficient.

But must we always take the easy path? I don't think so. And if the trees could speak, I think they would agree.

At the same time I speak for the trees, I realize that nearly everything I do relies on the electricity produced by coal. In fact, I refreshed my memory about "The Lorax" by logging on to Wikipedia on the Internet with my computer, which relies on electricity.

And every column I submit to The Daily Mail is sent by computer. Electricity generated by coal is the engine that powers my ability to do that.

Like most people, I am a captive of electricity and the things it does.

But it doesn't stop me from speaking for the trees. And I won't stop speaking for them until we find a better way of getting the coal out of our mountains -- a way that doesn't destroy the natural environment and put us in peril of losing the things on this planet that matter most.

Peyton may be reached by e-mail at davepeyton@davepeyton.com.