OVERBURDEN
FILM
When an errant spark ignited the methane leaking in the Upper Big Branch mine in 2010, a fireball ripped through miles of underground tunnels in Appalachia’s coal country, killing everything it touched – including 29 men. In the aftermath of the devastating explosion, two former political enemies are united by the toll the disaster takes on their families and community: a right-wing pro-coal activist joins forces with a tree-hugging grandmother to take down the most dangerous coal company in the United States.
When an errant spark ignited the methane leaking in the Upper Big Branch mine in 2010, a fireball ripped through miles of underground tunnels in Appalachia’s coal country, killing everything it touched – including 29 men. In the aftermath of the devastating explosion, two former political enemies are united by the toll the disaster takes on their families and community: a right-wing pro-coal activist joins forces with a tree-hugging grandmother to take down the most dangerous coal company in the United States.
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A remarkable document, a powerful testimony to the absurd destruction that coal has brought to the mountains of Appalachia, and a testimony also to the remarkable women and men who have done their best to deal with an almost impossible trauma.
Bill McKibben
Author of The End of Nature
