I have been haunted by your story about West Virginia’s fortunes and troubles with coal (“Battle of the Mountain Tops,” May 26, 2007), where coalmining companies increasingly resort to blowing up the tops of mountains, knocking off as much as a thousand feet or three-hundred meters to get to the black gold. The tug of war between the companies and the environmentalists, who claim that some five-hundred mountains have been destroyed already, strikes me as gargantuan. I have never imagined barbarism of this kind possible anywhere on earth. Ever since reading your article, I cannot stop myself from trying to visualize the beautiful Appalachian Mountains minus the tops. The horrendous sight even got into my dreams.