Tearing Down Mountains: Using Spatial and Metabolic Analysis to Investigate the Socio-Ecological Contradictions of Coal Extraction in Appalachia

Abstract

Mountaintop removal is the most profitable and efficient way to extract the low-sulfur, bituminous coal found in Appalachia. This form of mining involves the blasting and leveling of entire mountain ranges, which dismantles integrated ecosystems and communities. We employ a political-economy perspective in order to assess the uneven capitalist development and socio-ecological contradictions of mountaintop removal. In particular, we use theorization on spatial inequalities to employ and extend a metabolic analysis to coal extraction. This approach reveals how metabolic rifts are created in the nutrient, carbon, and water cycles, producing a myriad of social and ecological problems in the Appalachian region. Mountaintop removal embodies the unsustainable characteristics of an economic system predicated on the constant accumulation of capital.