The Last Mountain – mining away our future
The gold country of California cannot forget the environmental effects of mining since toxic residues still contaminate our watersheds and public lands. While we still are assessing the effects of mining from the 19th century, mountain top removal is devastating the health of local communities and creating a wasteland from the once green Appalachian Mountains.
The Last Mountain documents the fight for the last great mountain in America’s heartland, pitting a mining giant that wants to exploit it for coal against local families fighting to preserve their mountain, their heritage and their futures. The mining and burning of coal is at the epicenter of America’s struggle to balance its energy needs and environmental concerns, so the daring solution proposed by this small Appalachian community takes on national significance when Bobby Kennedy, Jr. joins the Appalachian families to fight the extraordinary and insidious power of Big Coal. A passionate and personal tale that highlights the extraordinary power of ordinary Americans when they fight for what they believe in, The Last Mountain showcases a battle for the future of energy that affects us all.
Writer, Producer and Director Bill Haney writes, “In valleys and on mountaintops throughout the heart of the eastern seaboard, the coal industry detonates the explosive power of a Hiroshima bomb each and every week, shredding timeless landscapes to bring coal wealth to a few, and leaving devastated communities and poisoned water to many. With politicians siding with their corporate donors, it falls to a rag tag army of local activists to stand alone for the welfare of their families, their heritage and for a principled and sound energy future. Our film is their film – the uplifting story of the power of ordinary citizens to remake the future when they have the determination and courage to do so.”
Watch The Last Mountain at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival Friday, January 13, 2012 in the Stone Hall of Miners Foundry. Bill Haney has written, produced and directed award winning documentary and narrative features for ten years. He is co-founder of Uncommon Productions. His most recent feature documentary, The Price of Sugar, which he wrote, produced and directed, won a Jury Award in the 2009 Wild & Scenic Film Festival.
The Last Mountain addresses the immediate threats of mountain top removal, while The Sierra Fund, a local community foundation dedicated to protect and preserve the Sierra for all who live in it and who depend on its abundant resources, demonstrates the lasting impacts of mining. The Sierra Fund has stopped dredge mining for gold in the creeks and river of the Sierra Nevada’s and has worked to implement three new assessments of abandoned mines on public lands. The Sierra Fund continues to work to assesses abandoned mines within the Sierra Nevada and the protect people from further exposure to residual toxins caused by these abandoned mines. Izzy Martin, CEO of The Sierra Fund, will emcee this film session, and the Sierra Fund will have a booth in the lobby for audience members to learn more about their work to mitigate the impacts of legacy mining in our region.
