Deep Down: A Story from the Heart of Coal Country (2010)

Beverly May and Terry Ratliff grew up like kin on opposite sides of a mountain ridge in eastern Kentucky. Now in their fifties, the two find themselves in the midst of a debate dividing their community and the world: who controls, consumes, and benefits from our planet's shrinking supply of natural resources? While Beverly organizes her neighbors and leads a legal fight to stop Miller Brothers Coal Company from advancing into her hollow, Terry considers signing away the mining rights to his backyard-a decision that could destroy not only the two friends' homes, but the peace and environment surrounding their community. The two friends soon find themselves caught in the middle. of a contentious battle over energy and the wealth and environmental destruction it represents. Deep Down brings to light questions of our own morality, our connection to the earth's resources, and most importantly, our link to people whose daily lives are far removed from our own and yet deeply impacted through our actions. As the world's population soars, humankind must mine the earth's natural resources to feed our voracious appetite for energy, fighting wars over diminishing supplies of water, oil, and coal. But it is not only the earth itself that is rapidly changing and disappearing: as we excavate resources in ever-expanding areas, small communities are being flattened, taking with them our world's diverse cultures, traditions, and lives. Through a complex human story that cuts across environment, economics, public policy, and culture, the story of Beverly May and Terry Ratliff reveals the devastating impact of our energy consumption against an explosive backdrop: Appalachia's centuries-old struggle over the black rock that fuels our planet.