Burning the Future: Coal in America

Less blunt than its title would suggest, Burning the Future effectively makes the case against mountaintop coal mining, an environmentally destructive practice that the film links to deaths and illness among residents of southern West Virginia. Thankfully bereft of the hectoring narration that’s marred many a progressive-minded documentary, the movie is most powerful when local residents speak about the impact of the mining on their daily lives. Still, given that coal remains the source of about half the nation’s electricity, it would have been nice to see a greater focus on possible alternatives.