Colorado Environmental Film Festival 2008

Burning the Future: Coal in America examines the explosive forces that have set in motion a groundswell of conflict between the Coal Industry and residents of West Virginia. Confronted by an emerging coal-based US energy policy, local activists watch the nation praise coal without regard to the devastation caused by its extraction. Faced with toxic ground water, the obliteration of 1.4 million acres of mountains, and a government that appeases industry, our heroes demonstrate a strength of purpose and character in their improbable fight to arouse the nation’s help in protecting their mountains, saving their families, and preserving their way of life.

Time is running out for vast swaths of the Rocky Mountain West as the Bush/Cheney Administration turns over millions of acres of public land for oil & gas drilling. Westerners on the land for generations expose the dramatic changes to the landscape and their heritage and spark a backlash. Just who is in charge of our public lands, the oil & gas industry or the American people?