Asher, Sarah, Kenzie, Cullen

1)We should care because there are so many useful things in the forest. There are a lot of plants that are anti-carcinogens, and the ecosystem in the forest helps make the air and water around cleaner. It acts as a free filtration system. We also just can't recreate this environment in one day, it takes millions of years for the forest to get back to its "natural" state. The book says by 2030 1/5 of plant and animal species will be extinct. This is a huge number that eventually leads to the extinction of humans. The coal economy is not going to last long either so why would anyone spend money supporting something that will run out.

2)The political chapter really puts things in perspective. There is a vicious cycle of money and control in the government. The agencies that are supposed to be regulating the coal companies are actually making it easier for them to break rules and harder for the people living there to fight for their lives. He says that the EPA sat up beside the coal companies lawyers. That says a lot about how hard it is to fight these issues.

3)We think that we have learned a lot about how the forests are useful to our everyday lives. The example of the New York City water system shows how amazing the forest is, and how much money keeping the forests intact save us. They could have spent millions of dollars to build a filtration system that would have continued to cost millions in upkeep but instead they just used the natural resources we have available to help filtrate their water. The book seems to affect us a little more than someone on the other side of the country because we are so close to the problem. This makes us have stronger beliefs and wants to help the people of eastern Kentucky.

4)Reece is a very good writer and researcher. He backs up all his opinions with facts. He lived in this area for a year, so we get to hear his first hand accounts not stories he has read. We also get to hear personal stories and fights that help appeal to our emotional sides. He also does a good job appealing to people of all different backgrounds. We didn't like how he always includes poems and songs. Sometimes they don't really seem to relate, and it almost feels as if he is trying to hard to get sympathy out of the readers.

5)Olson is just saying that the way a typical American lives is just as harmful to the environment as strip mining is. Why should we feel so bad for this small area, when we are continuously polluting the earth in other ways. We think Reece would agree with this statement, but he would ask why should we just turn our heads on the problem because there are other problems in the rest of the world.