NO TO COAL MINING IN KARVINA

As I sing in Miners, coal mining is a dirty and destructive work. In my opinion, coal as a source doesn't belong in the 21st century but I keep hearing news about intentions of OKD to expand coal mining areas in Karvina region where I grew up. It sucks mainly because coal mining:

• ruins the environment (waste, dust, messing with eco-systems)
• affects the face of towns and their historical sights
• undermines inhabited areas forcing people to leave their homes.

Here is a little example of subsidence of undermined land, the leaning church in Karvina.

My band in front of Peter of Alcantara church

Due to coal mining the ground under the church dropped 37 metres and caused the church to tilt. Now it's admired as the "Czech Pisa". But hey, some people actually live in tilted houses where walls are cracking. (I should know. My grandma's former house was undermined, too. It's still standing but I wouldn't live in it for a million bucks.) 

OKD buys badly undermined houses, thus "rescuing" people from their homes before the roofs collapse on their heads. They also buy houses "preventively" in areas where they intend to start mining in the future, Karvina in particular. Thousands of locals are protesting. Theoretically if people stop selling their houses, OKD cannot start mining in new parts of the town.

I'm scared that once Karvina's coal is all dug out, OKD will move to other areas like the beautiful Beskids because there is coal under those mountains. But I guess my fear is useless. Or is it?

Beskids, view almost from the top of Lysá Hora (1323 m)

So far they have stated they will not dig into the mountains* but it's good to be alert. I don't live in the area anymore but that doesn't mean that I don't care.

The shitty thing is coal is intertwined with other industries: metallurgy, chemical industry - they use coal and produce a huge amount of waste. Coal plants pollute inhabited areas at night, letting out some unidentified waste dust.
No wonder people in the region are somewhat poisoned, which can be seen in the form of allergies and breathing problems, just to name a few. OKD acknowledges its major influence on the environment and it is providing funds for rehabilitation of the landscape. Ooh that's nice, so they are trying to clean up the mess they made and at the same time they're making new mess.

The company is our country's biggest employer in the private sector. People need jobs and as long as they have them, they don't care about environment that much. Namely, miners get quite high wages. All the while forgetting that the extra money they earn will go into their medical bills later when they or their children have asthma.

I wrote this article in English to rise awareness. More info about the situation in Karvina can be found on these pages: Karvina citizens against coal mining. They have already filed in a petition earlier this year but it seems like more petitions will be needed.

Even if you're not Czech and you don't live in Karvina, you can still help. You can for example like their Facebook page and you can share this information in contrast with endless propagation of Prague as the only place in the Czech republic worth knowing.