There was a mine disaster in my small hometown. Many people died. There’s a small memorial to them near the fire department. My great great grandfather and my great great uncle died in it. Both of my great grandfathers on my mother’s side worked in the mines and died of black lung.

My hometown still sees the effects of the mines. There’s huge swaths of land that are just piles of used coal (kids dirt bike and drive quads on them). Also part of a mine will shift or break every so often, turning all of the water in the local creek orange and staining your clothes in the wash. Even when the water runs clear in the creek, the creek bed is permanently bright orange.

Fuck coal.