Hundreds turn out for Coal River Mountain - UPDATED

by: heath_harrison

Mon Dec 07, 2009 at 20:24:24 PM EST

Press release:

West Virginians and their allies, including Robert Kennedy, Jr., rallied today at the headquarters of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to call for an end to mountaintop removal coal mining, starting with an end to the blasting of Coal River Mountain. Coal River Mountain, the site of a proposed wind farm, is becoming a line in the sand for those demanding an end to the mining practice.

[...]

"If we don't start building a clean energy economy and diversifying jobs in West Virginia what will our children do for jobs in 20 years when the coal runs out?" said Lorelei Scarbro. "If we can save this mountain than we can begin developing sustainable jobs and renewable energy, and we can maybe have an impact on the climate crisis that faces us all."

Despite the grim subject, the mood was definitely upbeat.

Recent days have seen the AP acknowledging the momentum on the side of the environmentalists, while Senators Byrd and Rockefeller have flatly rejected the coal owners' scheme to derail health care reform if their demands were not met completely.

This, combined with Byrd's condemnation of the tactics of Don Blankenship's side, definitely gave people a reason to be optimistic going into the event.

On one side, you had citizen activists offering a multitude of solutions for West Virginia's future and addressing the need for an alternative economy.

On the other, you had heckling, juvenile taunts and the usual attempts to shout down the opposition from a crowd of mountaintop removal workers and backers brought in, in part, by the West Virginia Conservative Foundation.

Efforts were made to disrupt the speakers by having a fleet of large trucks repeatedly drive by the event blaring their horns non-stop.

You'd think this might violate more than few noise and traffic ordinances, but Charleston police didn't seem to mind. (Guess the only way to know for sure is to try it yourself and see how many noisy laps you can do around Kanawha City without getting ticketed.)

But this had little effect, as Kennedy and other speakers instead used the drive-bys to rally the gathering.

The pro-MTR side tried everything they could to provoke the crowd and dampen the mood, but in the end, they were rightfully ignored.

In the past, such tactics may have seemed threatening or led to frustration, but now they only signal desperation from an industry that sees its hold on power fading.

But the change did not come by waiting for decisions from a few benevolent politicians. It was the result of a decades' worth of grassroots activism.

It's quite conceivable that, without this work, a return to oversight by the federal government would have been cut short by some well-planned thuggery and screaming on the part of coal interests.

But with attention growing at the local and national levels, this is no longer something that can happen.

"We're putting pressure on these agencies, and we're going to make them do their jobs."
---Mike Roselle (as transcribed by Ken Ward)

Activist groups - whether local veterans like OVEC and Coal River Mountain Watch, or newer organizations like Climate Ground Zero and Mountain Justice - have placed the issue firmly in the national consciousness.

Longtime activists created a foundation for the recent escalation of efforts on all levels - including protests, alternative media, direct action and that much-dreaded method- solid community organizing.

And we're seeing the results of this work unfolding now.

It's very likely that, when all is said and done, 2009 will be seen as the year the tide turned.

But it's no time to get overconfident. There's still a long and difficult fight ahead.

The coal operators still have the ability to make most local politicians do their bidding. The recent coal summit by Governor Manchin is proof enough of that.

Their presence in this state is still very much a force to be reckoned with, and you can count on their rhetoric and tactics becoming more over-the-top in coming months.

But the energy on the side of activists is undeniable and gives hope for the fight ahead.

For the first time, you truly get a sense that the good guys just might be able to overcome entrenched power and win this thing.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Lorelei Scarbro of Coal River Wind

Earth First! and Climate Ground Zero co-founder Mike Roselle

Larry Gibson of OVEC

Photos by me, but more and better pics available here, courtesy of RAN