From the Ashes - Official Film Trailer | National Geographic

[Music] Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "Coal is civilization and power." From the early 1900s to World War II, coal powered America. We're still quite dependent on coal, but coal was a nineteenth-century source of fuel, and we're in the 21st century.

The town is completely shut down. It's just empty building after empty building, laughing empty building. We knew it was coming; we just didn't know how hard it was gonna be. We're losing everything.

Jo-ann, how many you believe there's a war on coal? Yeah, we hope to make our voices heard. We want to call energy. We like whole energy; the thing about coal is somebody's taking a paycheck home on Friday night, putting shoes on the baby.

What's happening is not a war on coal; it's a war on our health. Burning coal kills you. You get asthma, lung disease, you get cancer. It's the biggest contributor to climate change. Climate change is real; it's happening. It's the biggest source of toxic water pollution.

This is the United States of America, and we're fair in our water. Donald J. Trump, as president, are going back to work again? Why? We're trying to win a war that even if we win, we're dead last.

We need real jobs and real community, and coal isn't it. There's plenty of coal still can be mined, and coal can still power America. Coal is a wonderful thing, but it comes at a pretty expensive cost.

The market is going to drive coal away; that is an inevitability. It's just gonna get worse. Something has to change. You got to do something different. If we're sitting, waiting for coal to come be our savior, game over.

So people have to stand up and speak out for their rights. This is the pivot point: either do something about it or leave it for future generations. [Music]