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TechnoratiMountaintop Removal: Fourth of July Festival Organizers Fear Violence
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Larry Gibson, the well-known, 72-year-old activist against mountaintop-removal mining, will host his annual July 4 music festival at his Kayford Mountain home above Cabin Creek Saturday and Sunday.
"I've been having this event, which is open to the public, for 23 years. Everyone is welcome," Gibson said.
Maria Gunnoe, a Boone County native, who won this year's international Goldman Environmental Prize in April for her anti-mountaintop-removal activism, is among the many planning to attend.
"A lot of elders and a lot of children, show up," Gunnoe said. "Normally, it is very peaceful.
"People get together, socialize and listen to very diverse music," she said. "Some is traditional Appalachian music. Some is music for younger teenagers, including rock music. It is a good time with your family and friends."
But both Gibson and Gunnoe worry this year's festival could spark hostility and possibly violence, especially after last week's arrest of demonstrators protesting Massey Energy's mountaintop removal operations in Boone County.
Gibson, in particular, said he has received threats since the arrests.
No one could be reached at Massey Energy's offices in Boone County on Friday.
A spokesman for the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department said he had heard nothing about any rumors of violence at Gibson's planned July 4 celebration.
On June 23, 31 picketers were arrested, including: actress Daryl Hannah, National Aeronautics and Space Administration scientist James Hansen and former Democratic Congressman and West Virginia Secretary of State Ken Hechler.
Protesting near Sundial, the picketers were charged with obstructing police officers and impeding traffic after sitting in the middle of W.Va. 3 near a controversial Massey coal preparation plant next to Marsh Fork Elementary School.
A nearby Massey dam impounds about 3 billion gallons of coal sludge from company mining operations.
Gibson's festival started out as a family reunion, but quickly grew into an annual community event.
Last week, Gunnoe distanced herself from "out-of-state environmentalists," explaining, "We are connected to the environment around our home lands. We care about our culture. But that does not make us tree huggers."
Gibson hopes today's event is well attended.
"Everyone is welcome. Bring a covered dish. But this is not a place for any kind of violence. But bring a conversation to the table. I would be glad to talk to anyone," Gibson said.
Gibson, whose family has lived on or near Kayford Mountain since the late 1700s, travels around the country speaking about mountaintop removal at colleges, churches, public seminars and community groups
"The stand I am taking here is not so much for myself," Gibson said, "but for all of the people living in this part of the country."
Gunnoe said, "Some people have had windows broken out of their vehicles because they had 'We Love Mountains' stickers on their bumpers.
"For years, mountaintop removal blasting has covered our homes up with dust and polluted our water," she said. "People fight mountaintop removal because they have lost their water, their land and their quality of life."
8 Comments so far
Show Alluh, sometimes i hug trees; 'guess that makes me a tree-hugger. 'hope no one gets harmed by it.
"Last week, Gunnoe distanced herself from "out-of-state environmentalists," explaining, "We are connected to the environment around our home lands. We care about our culture. But that does not make us tree huggers.""
Uh, what constitutes a "tree hugger" anyway?
When I was interviewed for an engineering job for the Mine Safety and Health Administration, I was point-blank asked, (because of my well-known my anti-war activism when I was working for the Army Corps of Engineers) if I was a "tree hugger". I guess they figured that being anti-war and being a "tree hugger" kind of went together. It say's something about the culture at the agency.
I deflected the question by simply saying: "It is not my intention to make policy in the field". I was offered the job, and I accepted it. I was unemployed and it was good paying, technically challenging, work.
Unlike some people in the agency, I always remember that my "customers" are the miners and the public, not the mine operators. I believe that an adversarial relationship is the only ethical relationship one can have in some situations.
And, just in case my boss is reading this, (I don't mean Labor Sec. Solis - she is the only good pick Obama made) these are my views and not those of MSHA or the Dept. of Labor.
But, to answer your question more directly I thing Ms. Gunnoe was simply saying that her opposition to MTR does not mean she is in cahoots with those un-American, tree-hugging, terrorist-loving, socialist outsiders.
It is always a sign of weakness when one has to make pronouncements and unfounded accusations about another to protect ones point of view. We are all Americans and we all care. This is a national issue. It is a global issue. At it's core it is an issue of how we as humans will relate to our planet and to each other.
I wish them all a very happy 4th of July. I hope that they will have their peaceful day.
We must continue to get the word out the best we can as the corporate media doesn't talk about this evil practice. Educating the American people to the truth is one very important step in fighting this, as if we can get the message out than maybe the American people will join the fight and make their voices heard.
Anyway, I wish all a Happy 4th of July.
It is good to hear this.
Festivals and music are becoming more radical too.
The mighty,the mighty of the clan greed have taken yea taken of all that would be life on the land,over the land to feed the maw progress,progress to the bottom of the mountain and to the pit reserved for the hearts of no empathy."Clean coal" the nirvana of no imagination and technology.Man the only species that would befoul its own nest and all other nests in the way of "progress".Tony