October 22, 2021

Coal Mining

A couple watches as water gushes from a pipe into the former Cottbus Nord open-cast coal mine in order to create the Cottbuser Ostsee artificial lake on April 24th, 2019, near Cottbus, Germany. In the background, steam and exhaust rise from the Jaenschwalde power plant. The mine operated from 1975 until 2015 and fed coal to the Jaenschwalde plant. The former mine is now being flooded in its entirety to create a lake of 19 square kilometers for recreational use that local government planners hope will become a tourist destination and provide jobs. The flooding will take several years. The new Cottbuser Ostsee will be one of many artificial lakes in the region, some of which are already in use, that have been created from former coal mines.
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Viewfinder: A Former Coal Mine Is Flooded to Create an Artificial Lake

A couple watches as water gushes from a pipe into the former Cottbus Nord open-cast coal mine in order to create the Cottbuser Ostsee artificial lake on April 24th, 2019, near Cottbus, Germany.

Coal miners give German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier a symbolic final chunk of coal in a ceremony at Schloss Bellevue presidential palace on April 3rd, 2019, in Berlin, Germany. Germany's last underground coal mine, located in the Ruhr region, closed in December. However, Germany still mines large amounts of lignite coal from open cast mines near Cologne and in eastern Germany.
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Viewfinder: The Closing of the Last Coal Mine in Germany's Appalachia

Coal miners give German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier a symbolic final chunk of coal in a ceremony at Schloss Bellevue presidential palace on April 3rd, 2019, in Berlin, Germany.

Coal miners from Poland's Pniowek coal mine carry a painting of Saint Barbara on Barbórka, their annual day of tribute to Barbara, from the mine to their local church on December 4th, 2018, in Pawlowice, near Wodzislaw Slaski, Poland. Barbara is the patron saint of coal miners, and every December 4th, miners across Poland celebrate her with a march, a religious mass, and a festive gathering. Coal provides about 80 percent of Poland's electricity. The mines, many of them in the region of Silesia in southern Poland, employ tens of thousands of workers. Meanwhile, the United Nations' COP 24 climate conference is taking place in nearby Katowice.
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Viewfinder: Coal Miners Gather in Poland

Coal miners from Poland's Pniowek coal mine carry a painting of Saint Barbara on Barbórka, their annual day of tribute to Barbara, from the mine to their local church on December 4th, 2018, in Pawlowice, near Wodzislaw Slaski, Poland.

Jim Probst and his two grandchildren, Eva (right) and Elliot.
Environment

Meet the Retired Furniture Maker Fighting for Climate Justice—and Coal Miners' Well-Being—in West Virginia

Jim Probst has dedicated the last five years to building a climate movement that's equally concerned with local coal miners' well-being as it is with the consequences of coal mining itself.

Tyler Childers performs onstage during 2018 Stagecoach California's Country Music Festival at the Empire Polo Field on April 28th, 2018, in Indio, California.
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PS Picks: Tyler Childers and Music That Reminds You of Home

PS Picks is a selection of the best things that the magazine's staff and contributors are reading, watching, or otherwise paying attention to in the worlds of art, politics, and culture.