Our morning flights also took us over some heavily developed parts of our state. And here, the development is almost always related to energy.

One coal strip mine looked like they would soon be digging up the interstate.

I suppose, if coal prices follow gas prices as one would expect, who knows? Maybe it would pay to move the highway and dig out the black carbonized energy.

If the pickups parked next to that dredgeline don't give a proper sense of scale for this mine pit, check the ore truck and dozer in the lower left of that image.

Remember, the driver's seat in that ore truck is about three stories high.