Oct 30, 2009
BREAKING NEWS: The Coalfield Uprising is spreading across the nation.
As millions of pounds of explosions rip across their mountain
communities, including the clean energy landmark of Coal River
Mountain, scores of residents from the Appalachian coalfields have
joined with supporters from across the country in a series of sit-ins,
die-ins, protests, and a haunting "Day of the Dead" funeral procession
and sit-in in the courtyard of the Washington, DC headquarters of the
Environmental Protection Agency.
Clean energy and clean water supporters across the country are also sending emails to the EPA and President Obama to stop the tragic blasting of Coal River Mountain.
"Inaction on the part of the EPA will affect the future of
Appalachians, and generations to come," says Bob Kincaid, with the Coal
River Mountain Watch organization in West Virginia. "If Coal River
Mountain is blown up, the green energy future of Appalachia, and the
entire nation, will be imperiled."
Coal River Mountain has been recognized by the Obama
administration's Council on Environmental Quality, and energy experts
around the nation, as one of the most important sites for wind energy
in the region, and a model for clean energy transition in the nation.
Instead of being destroyed for a limited dirty coal operation, the Coal River Wind project
slated for the historic mountain range would provide enough clean
energy for 150,000 homes, hundreds of long-term jobs, and millions of
dollars in tax revenues and local commerce.
As part of a nationwide "End Mountaintop Removal Day of Action"
organized by the Rainforest Action Network and coalfield activists and
clean energy advocates across the nation, sit-ins and "die-in" and protests are taking place in over twenties cities
at EPA regional offices from Kansas City to Denver to San Francisco,
and at JP Morgan Chase offices from New York City to Chicago to
Kentucky.
Today's sit-in at the EPA in DC is directed at Lisa Jackson, who recently invoked the agency's veto power to
stop the massive Spruce Mine mountaintop removal operation in West
Virginia. Declaring a state of emergency that threatens the lives of
thousands of coalfield residents, the protesters (who include former
coal miners) are calling on Jackson and the Obama administration to
intervene in the new mountaintop removal operation on Coal River
Mountain in a similar fashion, where the initial blasting took place
last week. Operated by Massey Energy, the Coal River Mountain mine is
setting off explosives that potentially jeopardize the 8-billion-gallon
Brushy Fork coal sludge held back by a precarious earthen dam.
According to the mining company's own evacuation plan,
if the Brusky Fork dam broke, local residents and children would have
only a few minutes to escape a 70-foot high tidal wave of coal sludge.
"Every day, more than 3 million pounds of explosives are detonated
in our state to remove our mountains and expose the thin seams of coal
beneath," says Bo Webb, a resident of Coal River Valley WV and a
participant in today's rally. "President Obama, I beg you to re-light
our flame of hope and honor and immediately stop the coal companies
from blasting so near our homes and endangering our lives. As you have
said, we must find another way than blowing off the tops of our
mountains. We must end mountaintop removal."
Protests are also underway at JP Morgan Chase offices in New York
City, Chicago and elsewhere. As one of the biggest financiers of dirty
coal endeavors, JP Morgan Chase has bankrolled Massey Energy's
mountaintop removal operations. Coalfield and clean energy advocates
are calling on JP Morgan Chase to follow the example of the Bank of America, which announced their refusal to bankroll mountaintop removal operations last December.
Here's a clip on JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon's doublespeak on clean energy investment:
More photos and updates from today's nationwide protests are coming.
For more information on the local of the protests, see the RAN End of Mountaintop Removal Day of Action page.
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Jeff Biggers
Jeff Biggers is the author of numerous books, including his latest: "Resistance: Reclaiming an American Tradition?" His previous works include: "State Out of the Union: Arizona and the Final Showdown Over the American Dream;" "The United States of Appalachia;" and "Reckoning at Eagle Creek: The Secret Legacy of Coal in the Heartland."
BREAKING NEWS: The Coalfield Uprising is spreading across the nation.
As millions of pounds of explosions rip across their mountain
communities, including the clean energy landmark of Coal River
Mountain, scores of residents from the Appalachian coalfields have
joined with supporters from across the country in a series of sit-ins,
die-ins, protests, and a haunting "Day of the Dead" funeral procession
and sit-in in the courtyard of the Washington, DC headquarters of the
Environmental Protection Agency.
Clean energy and clean water supporters across the country are also sending emails to the EPA and President Obama to stop the tragic blasting of Coal River Mountain.
"Inaction on the part of the EPA will affect the future of
Appalachians, and generations to come," says Bob Kincaid, with the Coal
River Mountain Watch organization in West Virginia. "If Coal River
Mountain is blown up, the green energy future of Appalachia, and the
entire nation, will be imperiled."
Coal River Mountain has been recognized by the Obama
administration's Council on Environmental Quality, and energy experts
around the nation, as one of the most important sites for wind energy
in the region, and a model for clean energy transition in the nation.
Instead of being destroyed for a limited dirty coal operation, the Coal River Wind project
slated for the historic mountain range would provide enough clean
energy for 150,000 homes, hundreds of long-term jobs, and millions of
dollars in tax revenues and local commerce.
As part of a nationwide "End Mountaintop Removal Day of Action"
organized by the Rainforest Action Network and coalfield activists and
clean energy advocates across the nation, sit-ins and "die-in" and protests are taking place in over twenties cities
at EPA regional offices from Kansas City to Denver to San Francisco,
and at JP Morgan Chase offices from New York City to Chicago to
Kentucky.
Today's sit-in at the EPA in DC is directed at Lisa Jackson, who recently invoked the agency's veto power to
stop the massive Spruce Mine mountaintop removal operation in West
Virginia. Declaring a state of emergency that threatens the lives of
thousands of coalfield residents, the protesters (who include former
coal miners) are calling on Jackson and the Obama administration to
intervene in the new mountaintop removal operation on Coal River
Mountain in a similar fashion, where the initial blasting took place
last week. Operated by Massey Energy, the Coal River Mountain mine is
setting off explosives that potentially jeopardize the 8-billion-gallon
Brushy Fork coal sludge held back by a precarious earthen dam.
According to the mining company's own evacuation plan,
if the Brusky Fork dam broke, local residents and children would have
only a few minutes to escape a 70-foot high tidal wave of coal sludge.
"Every day, more than 3 million pounds of explosives are detonated
in our state to remove our mountains and expose the thin seams of coal
beneath," says Bo Webb, a resident of Coal River Valley WV and a
participant in today's rally. "President Obama, I beg you to re-light
our flame of hope and honor and immediately stop the coal companies
from blasting so near our homes and endangering our lives. As you have
said, we must find another way than blowing off the tops of our
mountains. We must end mountaintop removal."
Protests are also underway at JP Morgan Chase offices in New York
City, Chicago and elsewhere. As one of the biggest financiers of dirty
coal endeavors, JP Morgan Chase has bankrolled Massey Energy's
mountaintop removal operations. Coalfield and clean energy advocates
are calling on JP Morgan Chase to follow the example of the Bank of America, which announced their refusal to bankroll mountaintop removal operations last December.
Here's a clip on JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon's doublespeak on clean energy investment:
More photos and updates from today's nationwide protests are coming.
For more information on the local of the protests, see the RAN End of Mountaintop Removal Day of Action page.
Jeff Biggers
Jeff Biggers is the author of numerous books, including his latest: "Resistance: Reclaiming an American Tradition?" His previous works include: "State Out of the Union: Arizona and the Final Showdown Over the American Dream;" "The United States of Appalachia;" and "Reckoning at Eagle Creek: The Secret Legacy of Coal in the Heartland."
BREAKING NEWS: The Coalfield Uprising is spreading across the nation.
As millions of pounds of explosions rip across their mountain
communities, including the clean energy landmark of Coal River
Mountain, scores of residents from the Appalachian coalfields have
joined with supporters from across the country in a series of sit-ins,
die-ins, protests, and a haunting "Day of the Dead" funeral procession
and sit-in in the courtyard of the Washington, DC headquarters of the
Environmental Protection Agency.
Clean energy and clean water supporters across the country are also sending emails to the EPA and President Obama to stop the tragic blasting of Coal River Mountain.
"Inaction on the part of the EPA will affect the future of
Appalachians, and generations to come," says Bob Kincaid, with the Coal
River Mountain Watch organization in West Virginia. "If Coal River
Mountain is blown up, the green energy future of Appalachia, and the
entire nation, will be imperiled."
Coal River Mountain has been recognized by the Obama
administration's Council on Environmental Quality, and energy experts
around the nation, as one of the most important sites for wind energy
in the region, and a model for clean energy transition in the nation.
Instead of being destroyed for a limited dirty coal operation, the Coal River Wind project
slated for the historic mountain range would provide enough clean
energy for 150,000 homes, hundreds of long-term jobs, and millions of
dollars in tax revenues and local commerce.
As part of a nationwide "End Mountaintop Removal Day of Action"
organized by the Rainforest Action Network and coalfield activists and
clean energy advocates across the nation, sit-ins and "die-in" and protests are taking place in over twenties cities
at EPA regional offices from Kansas City to Denver to San Francisco,
and at JP Morgan Chase offices from New York City to Chicago to
Kentucky.
Today's sit-in at the EPA in DC is directed at Lisa Jackson, who recently invoked the agency's veto power to
stop the massive Spruce Mine mountaintop removal operation in West
Virginia. Declaring a state of emergency that threatens the lives of
thousands of coalfield residents, the protesters (who include former
coal miners) are calling on Jackson and the Obama administration to
intervene in the new mountaintop removal operation on Coal River
Mountain in a similar fashion, where the initial blasting took place
last week. Operated by Massey Energy, the Coal River Mountain mine is
setting off explosives that potentially jeopardize the 8-billion-gallon
Brushy Fork coal sludge held back by a precarious earthen dam.
According to the mining company's own evacuation plan,
if the Brusky Fork dam broke, local residents and children would have
only a few minutes to escape a 70-foot high tidal wave of coal sludge.
"Every day, more than 3 million pounds of explosives are detonated
in our state to remove our mountains and expose the thin seams of coal
beneath," says Bo Webb, a resident of Coal River Valley WV and a
participant in today's rally. "President Obama, I beg you to re-light
our flame of hope and honor and immediately stop the coal companies
from blasting so near our homes and endangering our lives. As you have
said, we must find another way than blowing off the tops of our
mountains. We must end mountaintop removal."
Protests are also underway at JP Morgan Chase offices in New York
City, Chicago and elsewhere. As one of the biggest financiers of dirty
coal endeavors, JP Morgan Chase has bankrolled Massey Energy's
mountaintop removal operations. Coalfield and clean energy advocates
are calling on JP Morgan Chase to follow the example of the Bank of America, which announced their refusal to bankroll mountaintop removal operations last December.
Here's a clip on JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon's doublespeak on clean energy investment:
More photos and updates from today's nationwide protests are coming.
For more information on the local of the protests, see the RAN End of Mountaintop Removal Day of Action page.
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