Randy Olson, Melissa Farlow Photography

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  • A shot of a run-down industrial complex near the Meadowlands.
    MELISSA FARLOW_06460_671059.jpg
  • Aerial view of snow covered mountain top removal mining site. After blasting the top of a mountain, trucks remove debris dumping dirt and rock into valleys and streams destroying watersheds. Over 1,000 miles of Appalachian streams have been buried and 300,000 acres of diverse temperate hardwood forests obliterated with valley hills like the white V in the foreground. Pollution from toxic chemicals fill sludge ponds and in flooding, contaminate drinking water. A moonscape of unusable land is left.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_996789.jpg
  • Aerial view of mountain top removal coal mining site and V-shaped valley fills that create a moonscape of unusable land. Roughly 1.2 million acres, including 500 mountains, have been flattened by mountaintop removal coal mining in the central Appalachian region, and only a fraction of that land has been reclaimed for so-called beneficial economic use.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023699.jpg
  • Aerial view of Hobet 21, a large mountaintop removal mine site was among the largest coal surface mines in West Virginia. The Lincoln County mine ran 24 hours a day, seven days a week expanding over hills and valleys, filling in Connelly Branch creek. At its peak in 2002, the mine produced 5 million pounds of coal in one year. After the company was bankrupt in 2015, the site was passed on to a conservation firm who continued mining.<br />
A lone house sits beside Mud River in the shadow of the mine's encroaching path. The town of Mud hasn’t been much of a community in the couple of decades since the post office closed, and in 1998 around 60 residents remained. They had two churches and a ball field. In early 1997, Big John, the mine’s 20-story dragline, moved above Mud and more houses, near this one, were bought and destroyed.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_996269.jpg
  • Aerial view of the Samples Mine mountain top removal coal mining site. A dragline removes overburden after mountains are dynamited to get to a small seam of coal.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023644.jpg
  • Aerial view of a drag line that scrapes through rock after a explosives blast away the top of mountains. A fresh snow contrasts the blackened coal that is revealed. Mountaintop removal mining devastates the landscape, turning areas that should be lush with forests and wildlife into barren moonscapes.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023728.jpg
  • Aerial view shows snow that accentuates the contours of a flattened, freshly cut mountaintop removal site in Cabin Creek, West Virginia. Mountaintop removal is a mining practice where the tops of mountains are blasted away to expose the seams of coal underneath.<br />
As much as 500 feet or more of a mountain summit may be leveled. The earth and rock from the mountaintop is then dumped into the neighboring valleys.<br />
Analysis from a study that Appalachian Voices commissioned along with Natural Resources Defense Council  shows that 1.2 million acres have been mined for coal. “Over 500 mountains have been leveled, and nearly 2,000 miles of precious Appalachian headwater streams have been buried and polluted by mountaintop removal.”
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023729.jpg
  • Snow accents the contours of a fresh valley fill at a coal mine site seen in an aerial view. Tops of mountains are blasted away and flattened to reveal a small seam of coal, and the rock and debris is dumped into V-shaped valleys filling in stream beds.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023727.jpg
  • Aerial view shows snow that accentuates the contours of a flattened, freshly cut mountaintop removal site in Cabin Creek, West Virginia. Mountaintop removal is a mining practice where the tops of mountains are blasted away to expose the seams of coal underneath.<br />
As much as 500 feet or more of a mountain summit may be leveled. The earth and rock from the mountaintop is then dumped into the neighboring valleys.<br />
Analysis from a study that Appalachian Voices commissioned along with Natural Resources Defense Council  shows that 1.2 million acres have been mined for coal. “Over 500 mountains have been leveled, and nearly 2,000 miles of precious Appalachian headwater streams have been buried and polluted by mountaintop removal.”
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023729-2.JPG
  • Aerial view shows snow that accentuates the contours of a flattened, freshly cut mountaintop removal site in Cabin Creek, West Virginia. Mountaintop removal is a mining practice where the tops of mountains are blasted away to expose the seams of coal underneath.<br />
As much as 500 feet or more of a mountain summit may be leveled. The earth and rock from the mountaintop is then dumped into the neighboring valleys.<br />
Analysis from a study that Appalachian Voices commissioned along with Natural Resources Defense Council  shows that 1.2 million acres have been mined for coal. “Over 500 mountains have been leveled, and nearly 2,000 miles of precious Appalachian headwater streams have been buried and polluted by mountaintop removal.”
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023729-1.JPG
  • Aerial view of Hobet 21 mountain top removal coal mining site looms over one of the few remaining houses in Mud, W.V. Once this was a quiet rural community, but mining companies can legally come within 100 feet of a family cemetery and 300 feet from a home and they run 24 hours a day and seven days a week. <br />
Hobet 21 once produced about 5.2 million tons of coal, making it among the largest surface mines in the state. The Lincoln County mine expanded to fill in Connelly Branch creek, and after the company was bankrupt in 2015, the site was passed on to another firm who continued mining.<br />
The town of Mud hasn’t been much of a community in the couple of decades since the post office closed, but in 1998 around 60 residents remained. They had two churches and a ball field. In early 1997, Big John, the mine’s 20-story dragline, moved above Mud and more houses, near this one, were bought and destroyed.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023701.jpg
  • Plastic covers a stockpile of coal at Elk Run Mining Company processing plant seen in a aerial view. The town of Sylvester was covered in black coal dust causing health issues as it seeped inside homes.In 2001, Sylvester residents filed a lawsuit against Elk Run Mining for damages to property.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023646.jpg
  • Aerial view of dust surrounding a heavy drag line that scoops coal at a mountain mining site.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023645.jpg
  • Activist Larry Gibson lead two friends to a knoll in the family cemetery on Kayford Mountain to view a sprawling  mountaintop removal mine. Like a cancerous mutation of strip mining, entire mountaintops are blasted away to obtain a small seam of coal. Unwanted rock is pushed into valleys and streams, destroying natural watersheds, leaving no vegetation, and turning the terrain into unusable land.<br />
More than 300 of Gibson’s relatives are buried in the cemetery and his family has lived on Kayford since the late 1700’s.<br />
<br />
Since 1986, there has been a slow motion, continuous destruction of the mountain—24 hours a day, seven days a week. Gibson occupied the highest point of land around, surrounded by a 12,000-acre level plot of land that was previously a mountain range.<br />
Over the years, Gibson was intimidated, harassed, and threatened by mining company employees for holding out. He remained outspoken against mountaintop removal.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_996225.jpg
  • A steel worker at the Wuhan iron and steel plant.
    RANDY OLSON_WuhanIronSteel.tif
  • Like a cancerous mutation of strip mining, coal mining involves entire mountaintops that are blasted away to obtain a small seam of coal. Unwanted rock is pushed into valleys and streams, destroying natural watersheds, leaving no vegetation, and turning the terrain into unusable land.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023738.jpg
  • From the air, the town of Norilsk looks like a city on fire.  Numerous smokesta cks belch plumes of brown and gray smoke into the atmosphere that can be seen f rom 50 miles away.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Rus sia--more than two million tons of pollutants a year, primarily sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-15.jpg
  • From the air, the town of Norilsk looks like a city on fire.  Numerous smokesta cks belch plumes of brown and gray smoke into the atmosphere that can be seen f rom 50 miles away.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Rus sia--more than two million tons of pollutants a year, primarily sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-14.jpg
  • From the air, the town of Norilsk looks like a city on fire.  Numerous smokesta cks belch plumes of brown and gray smoke into the atmosphere that can be seen f rom 50 miles away.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Rus sia--more than two million tons of pollutants a year, primarily sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-11.jpg
  • From the air, the town of Norilsk looks like a city on fire.  Numerous smokesta cks belch plumes of brown and gray smoke into the atmosphere that can be seen f rom 50 miles away.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Rus sia--more than two million tons of pollutants a year, primarily sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-9.jpg
  • From the air, the town of Norilsk looks like a city on fire.  Numerous smokesta cks belch plumes of brown and gray smoke into the atmosphere that can be seen f rom 50 miles away.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Rus sia--more than two million tons of pollutants a year, primarily sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-8.jpg
  • From the air, the town of Norilsk looks like a city on fire.  Numerous smokesta cks belch plumes of brown and gray smoke into the atmosphere that can be seen f rom 50 miles away.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Rus sia--more than two million tons of pollutants a year, primarily sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-7.jpg
  • From the air, the town of Norilsk looks like a city on fire.  Numerous smokesta cks belch plumes of brown and gray smoke into the atmosphere that can be seen f rom 50 miles away.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Rus sia--more than two million tons of pollutants a year, primarily sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-4.jpg
  • From the air, the town of Norilsk looks like a city on fire.  Numerous smokesta cks belch plumes of brown and gray smoke into the atmosphere that can be seen f rom 50 miles away.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Rus sia--more than two million tons of pollutants a year, primarily sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-2.jpg
  • From the air, the town of Norilsk looks like a city on fire.  Numerous smokesta cks belch plumes of brown and gray smoke into the atmosphere that can be seen f rom 50 miles away.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Rus sia--more than two million tons of pollutants a year, primarily sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-13.jpg
  • From the air, the town of Norilsk looks like a city on fire.  Numerous smokesta cks belch plumes of brown and gray smoke into the atmosphere that can be seen f rom 50 miles away.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Rus sia--more than two million tons of pollutants a year, primarily sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-5.jpg
  • From the air, the town of Norilsk looks like a city on fire.  Numerous smokesta cks belch plumes of brown and gray smoke into the atmosphere that can be seen f rom 50 miles away.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Rus sia--more than two million tons of pollutants a year, primarily sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-19.jpg
  • From the air, the town of Norilsk looks like a city on fire.  Numerous smokesta cks belch plumes of brown and gray smoke into the atmosphere that can be seen f rom 50 miles away.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Rus sia--more than two million tons of pollutants a year, primarily sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-1.jpg
  • From the air, the town of Norilsk looks like a city on fire.  Numerous smokesta cks belch plumes of brown and gray smoke into the atmosphere that can be seen f rom 50 miles away.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Rus sia--more than two million tons of pollutants a year, primarily sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129.JPG
  • From the air, the town of Norilsk looks like a city on fire.  Numerous smokesta cks belch plumes of brown and gray smoke into the atmosphere that can be seen f rom 50 miles away.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Rus sia--more than two million tons of pollutants a year, primarily sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-6.jpg
  • From the air, the town of Norilsk looks like a city on fire.  Numerous smokesta cks belch plumes of brown and gray smoke into the atmosphere that can be seen f rom 50 miles away.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Rus sia--more than two million tons of pollutants a year, primarily sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-18.jpg
  • From the air, the town of Norilsk looks like a city on fire.  Numerous smokesta cks belch plumes of brown and gray smoke into the atmosphere that can be seen f rom 50 miles away.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Rus sia--more than two million tons of pollutants a year, primarily sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-17.jpg
  • From the air, the town of Norilsk looks like a city on fire.  Numerous smokesta cks belch plumes of brown and gray smoke into the atmosphere that can be seen f rom 50 miles away.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Rus sia--more than two million tons of pollutants a year, primarily sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-16.jpg
  • From the air, the town of Norilsk looks like a city on fire.  Numerous smokesta cks belch plumes of brown and gray smoke into the atmosphere that can be seen f rom 50 miles away.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Rus sia--more than two million tons of pollutants a year, primarily sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-3.jpg
  • Factories, power plants, and rail yards crowd along the banks of the Hackensack River in the Meadowlands. the World Trade Center is visible in the far right b ackground.
    MELISSA FARLOW_06460_668276.jpg
  • Mountaintop removal involves miners setting up explosive charges at a small coal mine operating in West Virginia. The top of the mountain is blown off with sticks of dynamite in order to obtain a small seam of coal.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023663.jpg
  • People ice-fishing on the Ural River in front of the Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Plant.
    GERD LUDWIG_06041_490448.jpg
  • A truck dumps rock over the edge of a cliff creating a valley fill at a mountain top removal coal mine.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023731.jpg
  • Bulldozers push rocks into hills attempting to reclaim the land after coal mining at a mountaintop removal mining site. This small mine site dwarfs the equipment so they look like toys.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023667.jpg
  • Rock is dumped down a ridge into a valley at a mountain top coal mining site. Explosives are used to blow up the top of a mountain, and debris is hauled away in order to obtain a small seam of coal. 1000 miles of Appalachian stream beds have been filled in.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023666.jpg
  • Coal dust hangs in the air as a truck hauls rock out of the site to dump in into a valley fill.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023665.jpg
  • Sediment pond at the bottom of a valley fill that overflowed after a heavy rain at a  mountaintop removal mining site. Over 1000 miles of stream beds have been filled in with rock and debris where water flowed freely into rivers. Flooding occurs where it has not in the past, and sediment fills sources of drinking water.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023656.jpg
  • A steel worker at the Wuhan Iron and Steel plant
    RANDY OLSON_MM7493_1176523-10.jpg
  • A steel worker at the Wuhan Iron and Steel plant
    RANDY OLSON_MM7493_1176523-8.jpg
  • A steel worker at the Wuhan Iron and Steel plant is bare-chested and smoking a cigarette while taking a lunch break.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7493_1176523-1.jpg
  • Storage sheds outside apartment building in Norilsk
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663870-3.jpg
  • Street scene Norilsk
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663870-11.jpg
  • Street scene Norilsk
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663870-10.jpg
  • Cafeteria inside Norilsk Nickel company
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663870-9.jpg
  • Street scene Norilsk
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663870-7.jpg
  • Randy Olson at Guest House number two at the Wuhan iron and steel plant.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7493_1176523-9.jpg
  • A steel worker at the Wuhan Iron and Steel plant
    RANDY OLSON_MM7493_1176523-7.jpg
  • A steel worker at the Wuhan Iron and Steel plant
    RANDY OLSON_MM7493_1176523-6.jpg
  • A steel worker at the Wuhan Iron and Steel plant
    RANDY OLSON_MM7493_1176523-5.jpg
  • A steel worker at the Wuhan Iron and Steel plant
    RANDY OLSON_MM7493_1176523-4.jpg
  • A steel worker at the Wuhan Iron and Steel plant while taking a lunch break.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7493_1176523-3.jpg
  • Street scene Norilsk
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663870-15.jpg
  • Cafeteria inside Norilsk Nickel company
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663870-12.jpg
  • Cafeteria inside Norilsk Nickel company
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663870-8.jpg
  • Boy in apartment in Norilsk
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663870-1.jpg
  • Street scene Norilsk
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663870-14.jpg
  • Street scene Norilsk
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663870-6.jpg
  • Extractive business outside Norilsk
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663870-5.jpg
  • Boy lights a fire on a playground outside his apartment building in Norilsk
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663870-2.jpg
  • Bus stop Norilsk
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663870-4.jpg
  • The brittle remains of dead larch forest extend mile after mile southeastward f rom the Siberian mining town of Norilsk.  This area, known as the dead tree zon e, is a 75-mile stretch of critical environmental damage directly attributed to the to the noxious material dispersed from Norilsk's nickel and copper smeltering factorie s.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Russia--more than t wo million tons of pollutants a year, mainly sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129.jpg
  • The brittle remains of dead larch forest extend mile after mile southeastward f rom the Siberian mining town of Norilsk.  This area, known as the dead tree zon e, is a 75-mile stretch of critical environmental damage directly attributed to the to the noxious material dispersed from Norilsk's nickel and copper smeltering factorie s.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Russia--more than t wo million tons of pollutants a year, mainly sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-10.jpg
  • The brittle remains of dead larch forest extend mile after mile southeastward f rom the Siberian mining town of Norilsk.  This area, known as the dead tree zon e, is a 75-mile stretch of critical environmental damage directly attributed to the to the noxious material dispersed from Norilsk's nickel and copper smeltering factorie s.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Russia--more than t wo million tons of pollutants a year, mainly sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673214.JPG
  • The brittle remains of dead larch forest extend mile after mile southeastward f rom the Siberian mining town of Norilsk.  This area, known as the dead tree zon e, is a 75-mile stretch of critical environmental damage directly attributed to the to the noxious material dispersed from Norilsk's nickel and copper smeltering factorie s.  Norilsk pumps out 8 percent of all the air pollution in Russia--more than t wo million tons of pollutants a year, mainly sulfur dioxide.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_673129-12.jpg
  • A worker in protective garb and mask shovels dredged soil contaminated with cad mium to be processed before it is trucked away. A battery plant for years had d ischarged cadmium waste into the river. The area has been designated as a Super fund cleanup site.
    MELISSA FARLOW_06189_503160.jpg
  • Surfer off the north jetty outside Eureka. The Simpson Pulp Mill in the backrou nd, which is in the process of shutting down. Successful lawsuits by the Surfri der Group has hurt the company.
    RANDY OLSON_06019_488992.JPG
  • An elevated view from a tower over the city of Turin, capital city of Piedmont in northern Italy. It is  that is known for its refined architecture and cuisine the in southern Alps. Stately baroque buildings and old cafes line Turin's boulevards and grand squares such as Piazza Castello and Piazza San Carlo. Nearby is the soaring spire of the Mole Antonelliana, a 19th-century tower housing the interactive National Cinema Museum. <br />
The first capital of united Italy in 1861, Turin went on to become one of the main economic and industrial cities in the country in the 20th century thanks to its car industry. The city is the home to Fiat, which also owns Lancia and Alfa Romeo, and Iveco trucks.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7139_1024035.jpg
  • A family siting in the kitchen of their apartment has a complicated family life. The grandparents were farmers and lost the land and their occupations to development. If the grandparents did not have a child they would be homeless. Ironically, the same development that took his home now supports their daughter, Ding, who works in the industrial park occupying the land that was once the father’s farm.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7493_1176521.jpg
  • The most recognized symbol of Monterrey, Mexico is Cerro de la Silla, the saddle-backed mountain range. It is the backdrop behind the modern orange sculptural monument with laser beams, “Faro Del Comercio” or “Beacon of Commerce,” by sculpture Luis Barraz that is a contrast to the traditional cathedral, Baroque style Cathedral of Monterrey. <br />
<br />
Beyond Macro Plaza both colonial and contemporary architecture are found on the streets. The third largest city in Mexico, Monterrey is the capital of Nuevo Leon. It is an industrial and commercial city with cultural interests. It’s said that Monterrey faces more to the north and the United States than south to Latin America.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187480.jpg
  • Aerial view of Twisted Gun Golf Club,an 18-hole regulation length golf course in Wharncliffe, West Virginia. The golf course is a reclaimed mountaintop removal site, and was recognized by golfonline.com in 2007 as number 17 on the “Top Fifty under Fifty” ranking of top 50 golf courses where the public can play for under fifty dollars. There are very few uses for the moonscape of rock and rubble but this one seems successful. Twisted Gun in Mingo County near Gilbert, has been called the “jewel of the coal fields.” Mining continues in distance.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_996253.jpg
  • Taxi ride in Norilsk Siberia on our way to the Putorana Plateau with the Russian Geographic Society. The smokestacks are from Norilsk Nickel that produces 8 percent of all the pollution in Russia. The trees south of this plant are barren and dead.
    ngs0_3466.tif
  • Aerial view of Batu Hijau gold mine's dedicated port facilities at Benete Bay on the coast of Sumbawa Island in Indonesia.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222954.TIF
  • Morning fog fills a valley below a coal mining site in Appalachia.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023662.jpg
  • Workers smelt nickel in heavy polluting, antiquated factories.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663869.JPG
  • Workers smelt nickel in heavy polluting, antiquated factories.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663869.jpg
  • Taxi drive from airport to Norilsk Nickel. When we landed we realized why Russians had not been allowed here. There was a row of nuclear missiles on the horizon as we got off the plane.
    RANDY OLSON_06396_663870.jpg
  • Hobet 21 mountain top removal coal mine seen from the air, grows larger and approaches a family home. Mines run 24 hours a day, seven days a week creating coal dust impossible to keep out of houses.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023747.jpg
  • A high wing float plane soars over the water at Batu Hijau gold mine's dedicated port facilities at Benete Bay.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222953.JPG
  • A plane flies around clouds over Batu Hijau gold mine's dedicated port facilities at Benete Bay in Indonesia's Sumbawa Island.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222952.TIF
  • A gold miner in Kalimantan lights a smoke during a break from work.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1222997.TIF
  • An oil drilling platform off of Newfoundland.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7698_1162746.JPG
  • An aerial view of lighted docks in Vestmannaeyjar Harbor which hosts large boats and trawlers for the fishing industry in Iceland.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7393_1057897.JPG
  • Visitors view an exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MT5887_1345829.jpg
  • Elevated view of a small mine operation finding coal after a larger company left. The owner of this operation stated that "One man's trash is another man's treasure." His equipment works on a mountain top coal mine.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_1023730.jpg
  • Cooperative farming and industry in Huaxi Village.
    RANDY OLSON_RF4319_1155877.JPG
  • An aerial view of the Wooded Isle in Chicago's Jackson Park. Located south of the city on Lake Michigan, the park was planned in 1890 and designed  for the World's Fair. <br />
Frederick Law Olmsted worked with Calvert Vaux to create the park with a lagoon that started as a treeless marsh. Olmsted planned terraces and pedestrian walkways that were surrounded by neo-classical styled buildings. The one on the north side of the park presently houses the Museum of Science and Industry.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6560_956188.jpg
  • Tourists at Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry fresco.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MT6613_1457244.jpg
  • Shanghai's modern skyline is lit at night and viewed from a window in a restaurant near new construction along the Dong Da Ming Road.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7493_1176333-3.jpg
  • Bulldozers fill trucks with excess rock at a small mountaintop removal site in Man, West Virginia, where a small crew is mining coal in a site in Logan County that was left by a large coal company as rubble. Mine operator Gordon Justice said, "One man's trash is another man's treasure."<br />
<br />
Large mining operations are only visible from the air, although coal and debris are removed using enormous earth-moving machines known as draglines that stand 22 stories tall and can hold 24 compact cars in its bucket. The machines can cost up to $100 million, but are favored by coal companies because they can do the work of hundreds of employees. A small operation like this one can keep 17 employees working for five years and making good wages.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_996257.jpg
  • Arial view of a terraced V-shaped valley fill that sits at the edge of a reclaimed West Virginia mining site. Entire mountains are blasted away in mountaintop removal mining in order to obtain a small seam of coal. Unwanted rock is pushed into valleys and streams destroying natural watersheds and the length of the Ohio River has been filled in. The result is a threat to clean water and the biodiversity of the ecosystem.<br />
<br />
The Central Appalachian Plateau was created 4 million years ago, and one of its richest assets is wilderness containing some of the world’s oldest and biologically richest temperate zone hardwood forest. A flattened moonscape on top is mostly unusable.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM6773_996274.jpg
  • Aerial view of timber that is loaded for export onto a ship on South Prince of Wales. The forest industry depends on overseas sales and load floating logs from a nearby mill in a protected bay.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1075089.TIF
  • More than 5,000 miles of roads are carved into the remote landscape to clear-cut large swatches of forests on Chichagof Island. An aerial picture after a winter snow reveals the patchwork on lower reaches of the mountains where logging traditionally occurs. <br />
Taxpayer money has subsidized the timber industry since 1980. Tongass National Forest timber management has cost U.S. taxpayers roughly one billion dollars, making it the largest money loser in the entire national forest system.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7258_1073536.TIF
  • Aerial view of mile-wide Batu Hijau, a copper and gold mine, located on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa east of Jakarta. Ore is removed from the open-pit mine with electric shovels and haul trucks. Tailings from processing are disposed in the ocean and waste rock in the rainforest raising environmental concerns.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7339_1198339.TIF
  • Aerial photo shows rows of identical houses in Huaxi Village, once known as the richest village in China. It is emblematic of the beginning of the massive urbanization of China and the largest human migration in history from the rural areas into the cities. <br />
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It was a honored as a model of socialist economy. Established in 1961, collective investment efforts boomed in 1998 launching steel, iron and textile industries that by 2003, profited over USD 1.2 billion. One third of the profits come from the steel industry. In recent years, the company has shown it's first-ever loss. <br />
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Workers didn't migrate away because their model rural farm, instead, changed into a modern industrial city. The former Farmer’s Village has free health care and education, identical villas with red tile roofs, landscaped lawns and two car garages but there is no entertainment, and residents cannot move and take their wealth with them.<br />
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When they first started factories, they worked in secret with no windows. When government officials came to inspect, they sent all the workers out to the fields and disguised the factories.
    MM7493_20070504_24569.tif
  • View through a muddy windshield shows trucks hauling waste rock at Batu Hijau, a copper and gold mine located on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa east of Jakarta. Ore is removed from the open-pit mine with electric shovels and haul trucks. Tailings from processing are disposed in the ocean and waste rock in the rainforest raising environmental concerns.
    Gold_20060413_00538.tif
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