Coal Country reveals the truth about modern coal mining. The story is told by the people directly involved, both working miners and activists who are battling the coal companies in Appalachia.

In preparation for its premier November 14th on Planet Green, activists and musicians around the country are working to do their part by contributing to the country music CD and book. The soundtrack includes songs written by Natalie Merchant, Bob Dylan, John Prine, and Kathy Mattea. This essay is part of the series and written by actor and activist Woody Harrelson:

Mountaintop removal is the most devastating peacetime activity in human history—in fact, if the destruction to our nation's natural and cultural heritage were being perpetrated by a foreign power, it would be considered an act of war—because in a very real sense, it is—it is a war against the Earth. Every week, mountaintop removal coal-mining detonates more explosive force on the land and the communities of Appalachia than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima; to extract the coal that is warming the planet and poisoning the water, air and land.

The artists on this musical compilation are dedicated, as I am, to ending this unsustainable, and ultimately suicidal practice and to promoting renewable energy alternatives and the green jobs they will create. Won't you please join them.

Thank you.

For the Earth and her children,

Woody Harrelson

Watch the "Coal Country" trailer below: