The WorldWatch Institute recently had an article featuring iLoveMountains.org.

They touch on the astronomical scale of Mountaintop Removal:

According to a 2003 U.S. government report, more than 800 square miles (1,287 kilometers) of mountains in the United States have been destroyed, the equivalent of a quarter-mile (0.4 kilometer) wide swath of devastation from New York to San Francisco.

Whats the distance between San Fran and NYC?
via Mapquest
Total Est. Distance: 2909.65 miles!