Rally to Save Coal River Mountain - Dec. 7

by: heath_harrison

Fri Nov 27, 2009 at 06:43:02 AM EST

From It's Getting Hot in Here:

As climate justice movements turn towards the floundering talks in Denmark, people in Appalachia are in the fight of their lives to save Coal River Mountain and end mountaintop removal.  On Dec. 7, we'll be rallying and protesting at the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) demanding that they stop the blasting on Coal River Mountain.

For almost a year Climate Ground Zero and Mountain Justice have joined coalfield residents in taking direct action to stop mountaintop removal operations in southern West Virginia (with over a 100 arrests) because agencies like the WV DEP refuse to do their jobs.

[...]

When:Monday, December 7, 2009; 2:00pm

Where: WV Dept. of Environmental Protection Headquarters - 601 57th Street SE, Charleston, WV

Contact:savecoalriver@gmail.com; www.savecoalrivermountain.org

Jeff Biggers reports (and Bo Webb confirms via facebook) that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be among the speakers at the event

According to Coal River Wind:

In 2007 a wind potential study was commissioned to see if there was the potential to place wind turbines on Coal River Mountain. The wind potential study and the following economic study found that it is possible to place 328 MW of wind energy on Coal River Mountain. That's enough to power 70,000 West Virginia Homes and provide permanent jobs and $1.7 million in taxes to the county every year.

Time is running out, as Massey began blasting on CRM in October.

The destruction of CRM threatens to wipe out a site holding the promise of an alternative economy for West Virginia and endangers residents of southern West Virginia.

The blasting is taking place 200 feet from the Brushy Fork slurry impoundment. Should the integrity of the dam fail, a 40 foot wall of sludge could race through the valley, potentially ending nearly a thousand lives.

In recent months, we've seen the coal owners step up their disinformation campaign through astroturf rallies and take a page from the town hall disrupters' play book by resorting to threats, intimidation and an all effort to drown out anyone opposing their agenda.

It's time to stand up to these tactics from reactionary interests and demand our elected officials work to secure a safe and viable future for Appalachia.

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Commentary of note from this week:

- Julian Martin responds to  that lousy op-ed that Sen. Rockefeller sent to the state's newspapers a few weeks ago.

- and Rick Wilson looks at the resistance of coal owners and W.Va. politicians to climate change legislation and what it may mean when things are over.