The Salem Progressive Film Series will soon kick off its fifth year with a screening of The Last Mountain. The film follows the exploits of activists looking to save their water supply and communities from the years of mountaintop removal of coal.
Stories abound of families living near coal plants with children diagnosed with autism, parents dying at young ages from cancer, even cars with eroding paint due to the coal dust in the air. The pattern is enough that activists have taken extreme measures to reach the powers that be to make change happen in their community.
In the midst of the protests, it’s interesting to see the counter-protests that are made up of the lowest-paid employees of the coal industry. Misinformation and skepticism runs rampant, but that’s not entirely surprising as no one wants to think that their daily job, which is dangerous enough as it is, is actually hurting other people.
Most stories come with a protagonist and an antagonist, this one is no different. Bobby Kennedy Jr. plays the hero of the picture, representating the ideals of the activists by engaging in conversations with counter-protesters, the coal industry, and ultimately President Barack Obama himself. Every hero needs a villain and this story has one in Don Blankenship, the CEO of Massey Energy who does the most mountaintop removal of all of the coal companies. Blankenship, who is now retired, has a history of running a company that busts unions and racks up large amounts of fines for the company.
The film, like the signing of the Clean Air Act itself, crosses party lines to lay the blame on the politicians who are cashing in their coal industry paychecks and avoiding regulating the industry. Former President George W. Bush takes the most hits due to his poor, poor record on the environment, but the most dramatic is when a grandfather takes his young granddaughter, whose school is unsafe, to former West Virginia Governor and now United States Senator Joe Manchin’s office. Manchin calls himself a “friend of coal” and the activists are there to set him straight. The film makes a good argument, whether purposeful or not, on the need for campaign finance reform in this country. With so many politicians on the payroll of the coal industry, the issue won’t be looked at objectively.
The culmination of the film is Kennedy having a discussion with a coal industry representative at a local diner. While the two bicker, it’s very clear that there is a deadlock on the debate between the sides. A solution will have to come from the outside and that’s why everyone is looking to the federal level for help.
Following the screening of the film, former Secretary of State Bill Bradbury and Laura Stevens from the Sierra Club will speak to bring the issue to a more local level. Keeping up with his background working for environmental causes, Bradbury’s serving on the board of the Oregon Environmental Council and is serving a three-year term on the NW Power and Conservation Council. Stevens is an Organization Representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign.
Grand Theater
191 High St. NE
Doors open at 6:15 p.m.
Film begins at 7 p.m.
Tickets: $4 adults / $3 students
