held grass. After realizing this was an ecological disaster, Dr. Angel led efforts to plant more than 187 million trees which cover more than 275,000 acres of former mining land in Appalachia. Dr. Kathy Newfont, an Appalachian history professor at the University of Kentucky commented on Dr. Angel's efforts saying "...it was one of the most hopeful things I'd heard about the region in decades,". Human health impact Health disparities become present when comparing Kentuckians that live near mountaintop coal mines and elsewhere. Mountaintop removal coal mining uses tools like explosives, machinery, etc. to remove large amounts of topsoil, exposing coal ores underneath. After topsoil is removed in the mining process, sulfur and other trace metals such as arsenic, lead, magnesium, etc. are exposed to the surrounding air which can last for decades. These uncovered trace metals do not just pollute the air, most notably surrounding waterways are highly affected by the pollution caused by mountaintop coal mining. These pollutants are hypothesized to be the culprits in causing higher than average levels of cancer, stroke, asthma, heart attacks, hypertension, and overall poor cardiovascular health in rural coal-mining communities. However, there are other hypotheses as to why this disparity is occurring. Socioeconomic barriers that Appalachian communities experience can play a large role in skewing the average rates of long-term illnesses. Mining communities used in a 2013 study found that on average, individuals living in coal-mining communities had a higher family history of cancer, habits of smoking, and had a lower median income compared to test subjects in non-mining communities. Impact from federal regulations Electric utilities in Kentucky that use coal "are struggling to stay competitive by converting their power plants to other sources of fuel amid a downturn in the nation's coal industry and in response to stringent environmental regulations," according to Daily Energy Insider. For example, the Louisville Gas & Electric Co. (LG&E) and the Kentucky Utilities Co. (KU) operated a coal-based power plant since 1954 known as Cane Run 7. In 2015, they turned the facility into a "natural gas combined generating station". It is the first of its type in the state of Kentucky. A coal-based power plant known as Big Sandy Unit 2 near Louisa, Kentucky, was shut down in 2015 due to environmental regulations. The company that owns Big Sandy Unit 2, American Electric Power, is converting the facility to natural gas. In 2015, 87 percent