Mountaintop Removal Comes to China

Just as industrialists and manufacturers have moved their operations from the U.S. to China, it looks as though we’ve also sent mountaintop removal from Appalachia over to China as well.

            According to this article in the International Business Times, the effort to flatten mountains in China resembles that of what has occurred in Kentucky, West Virginia and other mountain states in the eastern U.S., at least in terms of scale. Hundreds of mountains are being flattened by the Chinese, with the resulting rock and dirt being deposited in adjacent valleys, just as they do in Appalachia.

            The difference is that coal is not the object of this effort. What the Chinese are after is flatland, more room for what China is known for: people, people, and more people. Mountains close to cities, such as Chongqing, Shiyan, and Lanzhou are being cleared away for development. Outside the city of Yan’an in the Shaanxi province they are flattening around 30 square miles; that’s about the size of Manhattan Island.

            Of course there are environmental concerns. Time will tell if the Chinese take better care of their valleys, rivers, and people than we have in Appalachia.