LM 85-162

This section of Reece's account still shows several other perspectives of the people who were strongly affected by the mining near their towns. I think this is a really important aspect of Reece's style of writing because it isn't just giving the reader one point of view or just retelling a story. He pulls the reader in by his descriptions of the situation each person he interviewed was in. The section on flying squirrels was sad because Reece really describes the fact that there is so much wildlife and diversity that we don't take the time or ever get the chance to see and species are gradually disappearing because of humans.

Reece continues to use statistics and research results to further support his point and this is a nice touch he adds to the reading. It was really sad and disturbing that one study found that "children in Letcher County suffer from an alarmingly high rate of nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and shortness of breath that can all be traced back to sedimentation and dissolved minerals in their drinking water." It makes me feel bad and even guilty for being so oblivious to these kinds of situations that is happening so close by. We learn about people suffering in other countries more often than we learn about those in our country who suffer and they are suffering because of our own country and the things we allow to go on here which is pretty sad. Throughout the reading it's hard to put myself in these people's shoes because it is so incredibly miserable and it isn't fair that these people are put into these situations. It easy for college kids and wealthier people to ignore these situations because they aren't negatively affected by mountaintop removal.

A really important part of this reading is where Reece describes the prayer Reverend Peake gives and says that one of our biggest problem is thinking that we aren't big enough to make a difference but we really should start by taking one step at a time. It really is true that so many people don't even want to try to help out because we underestimate what influence we can have on the issue.