Where have all the mountains gone?

I have flown into Charleston, West Virginia's airport. It sits on top of a mountain. When you fly over West Virginia, you can see huge areas land where the mountain tops that have been removed. It's not quite as big as the Grand Canyon, but it's bigger than anything you can see from the sky except for that. I stumbled upon this slide show today that talks about what is happening in West Virginia. I wonder why coal miners have such a sway over that state. People are so afraid of the coal companies. West Virginia has a sad history of mining abuses. I can see from this that they have not changed their ways.