I was up in the Great Smoky Mountains the other day and, sure enough, those mountains are sort of hazy. Looks like there is some smoke up there. The people in North Carolina say that smoky look in the Appalachian Mountains goes back to the Indians, before the white man arrived. "Why do you think they are called the Smoky Mountains?", one old-timer asked me.
"Well," answered knowingly, "that just can't be the case. The Atlanta JournalConstitution had a story on its front pave the other day about these mountains, and the headline said (and I quote): "Coal blamed for haze." And it had a sub-head that said: "Power plants choke mountains." Now why would the AJC say that in its lead headline if it isn't true? It seems a group called the Southern Appalachian Mountains Initiative had done a 10-year study, and they had just released a 172-page report that criticizes the haze for smothering the mountain peaks, and spoiling the vistas by reducing visibility. The report points a finger at coal-fired power plants as the culprit.
Meantime, the people who study weather rather than environmentalism think that smoky look comes from natural moisture in the air. They explain the science of the Bermuda High, out over the Atlantic Ocean, and how it brings moisture in till it bumps into the cool mountains. And mother nature causes it to form a beautiful haze ... just like it did a thousand years ago. For a major newspaper like the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to say "Power plants choke mountains" is not only irresponsible journalism ... it is ridiculous.
This is Gordon Sawyer and may the wind always he at your back
Monday
August 4th, 2025
8:27AM
