Once There Were Fish, but Then the Coal Mining Began

Originally posted on www.washingtonpost.com. 

The stretch of bone-dry, cracked land doesn’t look like much. But until recently, it was a spring, according to rancher L.J. Turner of Wright, Wyo. “It used to be, there was fish in there,” he says. Now it’s one of 20 nearby springs that have dried up. Standing in front of his truck, Turner mournfully adds, “Coal is a wonderful thing, but it comes at a pretty expensive cost.”

That scene — and the general message — are from a new documentary, “From the Ashes,” the first film produced by former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and his philanthropy division. It airs on the National Geographic Channel on Sunday, June 25.

The in-depth look at America’s coal industry hops around the country, offering glimpses of the damage being done as coal is mined, burned and transported. Not only is coal the biggest contributor to climate change, wreaking havoc around the globe, it also makes its presence known in more-targeted ways.

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