In 1972, a group of activists in the isolated coalfield communities of northern Tennessee started Save Our Cumberland Mountains. SOCM was formed from a legislative win. A year earlier, fed up residents won an appeal to require absentee corporations to pay taxes on their mineral-rich land. Emboldened, the nonprofit began to take on other problems: unregulated strip mining of coal that blasted the sides of steep mountains onto homes, roads, and streams; and insufficient revenue for schools, roads,…
To read this article and start a full year of unlimited online access, subscribe now!
Subscribe Now
Already a subscriber?
Login
Need to register for your premium online access,which is included with your paid subscription?
Register Now
Support SSIR’s coverage of cross-sector solutions to global challenges.
Help us further the reach of innovative ideas. Donate today.
Read more stories by Tamara Straus.