I Reckon: The Kentucky floods will stain the hands of coal companies

One of the fondest memories I have of living in the South is the distinct smell of rain. I could smell it from a mile away. I’m told it’s a skill that only Southerners seem to have. The rain brought life into our house. It called the frogs out of the makeshift pond we had in the front yard, watered the terraced rows of snow peas, corn, okra, squash and peppers we had in the backyard or rolled off the backs of the chickens that ventured out from the shack they nested in to look for the bugs that would come to the surface. The little creek that ran behind our house would swell but never got too high.

Rainy weather is just another fact of life in the South, but in certain circumstances, rain has turned into a death sentence — something hurricane and flood-prone areas of the region, like Louisiana and Florida, are all too familiar with. A couple short months ago, rain turned to reckless abandon in a place just a little further inland.

My last natural-diaster-related piece came out earlier this year when I wrote about the tornadoes in Mayfield, Kentucky. It is to Kentucky where I return, unfortunately. It’s been a couple of months since the eastern part of the Bluegrass State was struck by heavy rainfall that turned into floodwaters which eventually cascaded down those green mountains faster than a University of Georgia running back. The flood damaged or destroyed homes and communities — about 10,000 of them. It killed at least 37 people. 

I can already hear the sounds of some of y’all’s eyes rolling so far into the back of your heads (unless you’re a regular reader — which in that case, you’re my favorite people and you can ignore this callout). You’re probably wondering why you should care about some folks on the other side of the country. Or, maybe you’re the short-sighted Ben Shapiro-type and you’re thinking, “Why can’t these folks just pick up and move if they keep getting hit with stuff like this?” After all, we’re all dealing with this climate crisis, right? 

It matters because, in one small holler affected by the floods, a Kentucky community is fighting back in the courts. Blackhawk and its subsidiary, Pine Branch Mining, are being sued by residents of Breathitt County. The mining company operates a coal mine in this particularly poor community, already haunted by the dark cloud of local coal mines that have long been abandoned. The community is alleging that the company mismanaged their silt retention ponds, which exacerbated the flood and unleashed contaminated water as a side effect. 

It also matters because climate change will always impact people of color — as well as those stricken by poverty — most severely. It’ll hit those that can’t move because they can’t afford to, those whose only source of wealth may be in the home they can’t just up and take with them. 

While rich white billionaires are escaping to other planets through the hole that they and their corporate greed have drilled into the ozone layer, a conservative Supreme Court has gutted the Environmental Protection Agency’s power to combat climate change in their ruling on West Virginia v. EPA. Meanwhile, the U.S. government continues to twiddle its thumbs. The prospect of a greener, better world — and a greener, better South for all — remains bleak. But don’t let our current predicament depress you too much.

The fact that Breathitt County residents are already taking it upon themselves to pick a worthwhile and important fight with the company that has used and disposed of precious land, while also trying to pick up the pieces of what is left of their livelihoods in the aftermath of the flood, makes their example all the more inspiring. And let me remind you that you need not lose all hope in our legal system because people have taken on coal companies in the past and won. So keep that in mind if you ever want to take your local coal-rolling, pollution-causing business to court.

And another thing: Horrible political figures might represent Kentucky and states like it, but don’t you dare let their presence dissuade you from doing something for the folks here. Don’t let any ill-formed thought tell you to brush this off as something Kentuckians “deserved” for giving the nation Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul. Come hell or high water, we’re going to pay the price for ignoring those most impacted by climate change if we choose to let electoral maps dictate where our empathy goes.

Quynh Anh Nguyen is a junior writing about the implications of current Southern political events. Her column, “I Reckon,” runs every other Tuesday.