Raising the Dead: Memorial Day Activists Jailed in Protest to Stop 998 Coal Sludge Deaths

In three separate direct actions in the West Virginia coalfields on Saturday, nonviolent protesters launched the new phase of Operation Appalachian Spring, a growing national campaign to stop mountaintop removal mining and raise awareness of the catastrophic potential of government regulated blasting near a precarious coal sludge impoundment.

Dear Mr. President: Declare August 3rd as Armistice Day in the Appalachian Coalfields

On the upcoming anniversary of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, President Barack Obama has the opportunity to declare an armistice in the polarized Appalachian coalfields, mend a 30-year mining policy of betrayal, and call an end to the most divisive and egregious human rights and environmental violation sanctioned by our federal government.

On August 3rd, the President should keep his campaign promise, travel to Appalachia and publicly announce a timeline on when his administration plans to formally end mountaintop removal operations.

Urgent Letter to EPA and Interior Secretary

As three million pounds of ammonium nitrate/fuel oil explosives continue to rip through the lush green Appalachian mountains and historic mountain communities every day, coalfield residents from West Virginia have issued an extraordinary letter today to EPA administrator Lisa Jackson and Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to assert primacy over the negligent West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.

How Much Should We Leave in the Ground?

The two papers on carbon emissions published in Nature last week were ground-breaking: they show us how much carbon dioxide we can produce if we're to have a reasonable chance of preventing two degrees of global warming. It's a completely different approach from the UN's and national governments'. They set targets for reductions by a certain date but have nothing to say about the total amount of carbon we can release.

Making a 'Sacred Zone' in Appalachia

When people get caught up with that which is right and they are willing to sacrifice for it, there is no stopping point short of victory.

--Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 3 April 1968

It is April 4, 2009, as I write. A year ago, a handful of community residents gathered on a mountain here in Fayette County, West Virginia, to pray for a mountain that has stood sentinel over our homes for generations. We prayed because, like so many other mountains in Appalachia, it, and we, are under attack.

Mr. King Coal's Neighborhood: Washington DC, Won't You Be My Neighbor?

What does a Wyoming rancher, a Navajo elder, a Southern community organizer, a Latino immigrant organizer from Chicago, a young indigenous Ottawa woman from Michigan, and an Appalachian coal miner's widow have in common?

Obama's First 100 Days of Coal: A Few Honest Words, Please

If you're going to lead my country,
If you're gonna say it's free
I'm gonna need a little honesty
Just a few honest words

-Ben Sollee, "A Few Honest Words"

With those proverbial first 100 days coming to a close, here are ten moments--some good, some confusing, some hair-raising--in the short swift time of coal in the Obama administration's new era of "clean, renewable energy that will lead the 21st century."