"True Cost of Coal" Graphic Campaign

This is an ongoing collection of sketches and photos from the Beehive Collective's latest campaign, "The True Cost of Coal."

In 2008 we allied with Appalachian grassroots organizers fighting Mountain Top Removal Coal Mining, a practice which blasts mountains into moonscapes to fuel the ever-growing global demand for electricity. An "American Dream" that demands cheap fossil fuels justifies mining's devastating impacts on human and ecological communities, poisoning the planet and accelerating climate chaos.

Our team of volunteer artists and educators have put in countless hours designing a visually-stunning multi-tool for activists and ordinary folks. We have sought extensive feedback from our Appalachian collaborators and audiences nationwide to make sure we create a graphic that honors history, respects complexity, shows everyone's place in the big picture, and inspires real solutions.

We're almost finished drawing, and we are eager to distribute thousands of copies to the coal fields and across the world. We need to raise $10,000 to print 10,000 posters and several giant, portable fabric murals that we will use for nationwide speaking tours next spring. Accompanying educational materials, workshops and storytelling will inspire critical reflection and strategic action.

Every day we are losing ground, literally, to mountain-top removal mining. More watersheds are destroyed, more sludge builds up in leaky reservoirs, more folks get sick in communities downwind and downstream of coal-fired power plants, and our climate continues to destabilize. We are all impacted by coal mining, and we all play a part in the system that demands coal as fuel. The Beehive's Coal Campaign is helping more people understand the true cost of our national energy choices, so we can fight for a sustainable future.

Get more info at beehivecollective.blogspot.com.