Most everyone is aware of the United States’ addiction to coal, one of its longstanding bedrock industries. Entire state economies are built on the business of coal mining, and the companies carrying it out boast deep pockets and overwhelming influence inside the Washington Beltway. In one sense, this seems fundamental: it’s how we power our homes and businesses. What you might not realize, however, is just how dangerous an addiction this really is. Not just dangerous in an abstract, global warming-facilitating sense but dangerous in that controversial practices employed by these companies, and a total disregard for environmental regulations, are putting your health at risk. It’s happening today, right now, all over the country. The mountaintop removal process, in which layers of mountains are blasted away to get at deposits in their cores, is propelling an extraordinary amount of toxins and dust into our air and water supply. Burning coal, at hundreds of power plants across the country, emits a similarly deadly blend of pollutants. Cancer, kidney disease, possibly an increase in levels of autism — these are but some of the tragic effects scientists have directly tied into these practices. So it’s no wonder there’s such urgency imbued in The Last Mountain, a documentary depicting the efforts put forth by citizens of Coal River Valley, West Virginia to save their prized Coal River Mountain from destruction at the hands of giant Massey Energy. This conflict might seem a micro, local issue, without consequence for those of us residing outside