THE FAITH TO SAVE MOUNTAINS: RELIGION AND RESISTANCE TO MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL COAL MINING IN APPALACHIA By JOSEPH DYLAN WITT A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2011 1 © 2011 Joseph Dylan Witt 2 To my family and the people of Appalachia 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I thank my mother and father, who instilled in me a love of the mountains and a desire to help people in need. I thank the members of my dissertation committee, Bron Taylor, Anna Peterson, David Hackett, and Jack Davis, who provided excellent feedback on my work, helped me articulate my thoughts clearly, and pointed me toward helpful resources for further consideration. I am grateful to my friends in Gainesville and elsewhere, especially Robert Perdue, Elliot Kuecker, and Lucas Johnston, whose support and conversation helped me develop my arguments regarding religion and mountaintop removal and who supported me during the more difficult times in the field and while writing. Finally, I thank the activists and residents of Appalachia who generously gave me their time, fed me, and supported my project. This research was partially funded by grants from the Kentucky Historical Association and a Gibson Dissertation Fellowship, from the University of Florida. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................4 LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................................7 ABSTRACT .....................................................................................................................................9 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................11 Where is Appalachia, and What is Mountaintop Removal? ...................................................21 Chapter Outline .......................................................................................................................24 2 SETTING THE STAGE: SCHOLARLY RESOURCES FOR STUDYING RELIGION, COAL, AND RESISTANCE IN APPALACHIA ..................................................................26 Scholarship on Mountaintop Removal ...................................................................................26 Studying Religion in Appalachia: Difference, Denominations, and the Emergence of the Field ....................................................................................................................................34 Establishing Appalachia as “Other”: The Roots of Appalachian Cultural and Religious Stereotypes...................................................................................................35 Studying Religion in Appalachia: 1900 to 1970 .............................................................37 Studying Religion in Appalachia: Defining the Field, 1970 to the Present ....................41 Modeling Coal and Culture: Competing Visions of Mountaineers and King Coal ................53 Culture of Poverty ...........................................................................................................53 Internal Colonialism Models ...........................................................................................55 Conclusion ..............................................................................................................................69 3 FROM FARMERS TO MINERS: RELIGIOUS, ECONOMIC, AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES IN APPALACHIA, 1776 TO 1930 .................................72 Appalachia in the Early Republic ...........................................................................................73 Religion in Appalachia, 1776 to 1850 .............................................................................74 Industry in Appalachia: Railroads, Forests, and Mines ...................................................79 Life and Work in the Coal Towns: Maintaining the Industrial Status Quo .....................87 Religion and Coal in Appalachia in the 20th Century ...........................................................100 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................112 4 MOUNTAINEERS FIGHT BACK: UNIONS, MINING, MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL AND RESISTANCE, 1930 TO 2011 ..............................................................114 Fighting the Machines: Unions, Mechanization, and Resistance in the Coalfields ..............115 Poor Miners and Union Maids: The Rise and Fall of Unions in Central Appalachia ...116 Mechanization and the Emergence of Strip Mining: 1945 to 1977 ...............................123 5 The Stirrings of Resistance: Grassroots Opposition to Surface Mining and the Phases of Appalachian Environmentalism ........................................................................................128 The First Phase: Grassroots Resistance to Surface Mining, 1965 to 1977 ....................129 The Second Phase: Organized Activism and the Emergence of Mountaintop Removal, 1977 to 2004 ..............................................................................................145 The Third Phase: Mountaintop Removal and the Contemporary Movement, 2004 to Present ........................................................................................................................155 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................160 5 OF VALUES AND MOUNTAINS: IDENTITY POLITICS AND PERCEPTIONS OF THE LAND IN MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL DISCOURSE ...........................................166 Arguments for and Against Mountaintop Removal: Values in Action ................................167 Arguments Supporting Mountaintop Removal .............................................................167 Arguments Opposing Mountaintop Removal ................................................................174 Themes in Resistance: Identity and Culture in Mountaintop Removal Discourse ...............180 Who Speaks for the Mountains?: Insiders and Outsiders in Mountaintop Removal Debates .......................................................................................................................181 Culture in Action: Visions of Appalachian Identity in Mountaintop Removal Opposition ..................................................................................................................192 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................204 6 RELIGIOUS RESPONSES TO MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL, PART I: CHRISTIAN ACTIVISM ...........................................................................................................................208 Mainline Christian Activism .................................................................................................211 Evangelical Christian Activism ............................................................................................231 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................252 7 RELIGIOUS RESISTANCE TO MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL, PART II: NATURE RELIGION AND HYBRIDITY ...........................................................................................256 Nature Religion and Environmental Activism .....................................................................257 Cooperation, Co-optation, and Counter-Resistance: Religion and Narratives on the Ground ..............................................................................................................................281 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................294 8 CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................................298 RESEARCH METHODS ............................................................................................................303 LIST OF REFERENCES .............................................................................................................311 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................................338 6 LIST OF FIGURES Figure page 1-1 ARC‟s map of the Appalachian region ..............................................................................25 3-1 “Coal Boss Town,” detail from Beehive Design Collective‟s “True Cost of Coal” poster ................................................................................................................................113 4-1 Depiction of various forms of deep and surface mining. .................................................161 4-2 Active mountaintop mine on Kayford Mountain, West Virginia ....................................161 4-3 Active mountaintop removal mine on Black Mountain, at the border of Kentucky and Virginia ............................................................................................................................162 4-4 A section of the Hobet #21 mine in Logan County, West Virginia .................................162 4-5 A section of partially reclaimed mountaintop removal land on Kayford Mountain, West Virginia