West Virginia Blue
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PETTUS, WVa - After blocking Massey Energy's operations on the Bee Tree Permit for nine days, Amber Nitchman, 19, and Eric Blevins, 28 descended from their respective trees. They had occupied the two oak trees-originally accompanied by a third tree sitter, David Aaron Smith, 23-to protest mountaintop removal and the blasting of Coal River Mountain. Upon descent, they were immediately arrested by West Virginia State Troopers. The sitters' decision to leave the trees was made in light of the recent drop in temperature.
After a week of Massey security harassing the sitters with deafening sirens and air horns, a call-in pressure campaign was launched by Climate Ground Zero, Mountain Justice and other anti-mountaintop removal groups. The receipt of hundreds of calls from around the country led to an emergency meeting with Climate Ground Zero volunteers, the Raleigh County prosecutor and Governor Manchin. The meeting resulted in the moratorium and a call for an investigation of the abuse. The tree sit represents Climate Ground Zero's most sustained intervention in mountaintop removal mining operations since its campaign of nonviolent direct action began last February. Volunteers know that the fight is far from over and expect work to commence on the Bee Tree site immediately. However, they see this tree sit as a victory. "It halted blasting for nine days. I think they've wildly succeeded with their goals," said Climate Ground Zero volunteer Mike Bowersox. In a final communication from her perch, Nitchman captured the group's resolve. "Its not over until the blasting is stopped," she said.
CHARLESTON, WV - Responding to national pressure over the treatment of tree sitters on Coal River Mountain, West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin asked Climate Ground Zero for an emergency meeting. This morning Roland Micklem, 81, and other group members told the Governor that the civil-disobedience campaign won't stop until mountaintop removal does. They reminded the governor that the campaign is strictly non-violent, and asked the governor to protect activists from threats of violence by Massey Energy and other coal companies.
"The governor attempted to steer the conversation away from the more massive crime of MTR," said Micklem. "We are here to oppose mountaintop removal mining, which is a crime. Massey Energy has committed any number of illegalities. We will continue non-violent civil disobedience in order to stop it."
Today is the eighth day that Eric Blevins, 28, and Amber Nitchman, 19, continue to peacefully occupy trees to prevent blasting near Massey Energy's Bee Tree strip mine on Coal River Mountain. They are preventing Massey from blasting near a sludge dam that endangers downstream communities.
The sitters have faced constant harassment from Massey Security in the form of air horns, bright lights and violent threats. The meeting resulted in a temporary moratorium on the use of the air horns and flood lights, but the sitters remain worried about the possibility of other, more dangerous, methods of harassment.
Governor Manchin recently came out against violence between the opponents and proponents of mountaintop removal mining after a meeting with coalfield residents about the effects of that type of mining.
In response to news of the harassment, hundreds of people from all over the country called Massey Energy, and then Governor Manchin to express their displeasure with his continued support of mountaintop removal mining, and to pressure him to stop the auditory abuse of the tree sitters. "The massive call-ins to the Governor and Massey Energy this week came from all over the country; mountaintop removal is a national issue with national consequences - the coal companies cannot continue to treat central Appalachia like their own personal playground," said David Aaron Smith, one of the sitters who had to come down Monday.
Today Manchin stated: "Even if we disagree, I believe we can walk away respecting each other but everyone-including activists and property owners-must do so within the letter of the law." Activists acknowledge that they are taking part in civil disobedience in response to legal violations committed by mining companies. In the debate with Robert Kennedy Jr last week, Massey CEO Don Blankenship said "I doubt it's possible [to do mountaintop removal] without having a single violation at a single time."
I love hearing stories where people make positive change. It's easy to just complain and stick your head in the sand but I'm always inspired when I see how many folks are out there quietly doing the groundwork for the big changes we need.
SEED volunteers help with construction of a community center building in Rock Creek, WV
And change is undeniably upon the coal industry again. The increased use of mountaintop removal mining means that fewer miners are needed to meet company production goals. Meanwhile the Central Appalachian coal seams that remain to be mined are becoming thinner and more costly to mine. Mountaintop removal mining, a declining national demand for energy, rising mining costs and erratic spot market prices all add up to fewer jobs in the coal fields.
These are real problems. They affect real people. And West Virginia's elected officials are rightly concerned about jobs and the economic impact on local communities. I share those concerns. But the time has come to have an open and honest dialogue about coal's future in West Virginia.
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The greatest threats to the future of coal do not come from possible constraints on mountaintop removal mining or other environmental regulations, but rather from rigid mindsets, depleting coal reserves, and the declining demand for coal as more power plants begin shifting to biomass and natural gas as a way to reduce emissions.
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Change has been a constant throughout the history of our coal industry. West Virginians can choose to anticipate change and adapt to it, or resist and be overrun by it. One thing is clear. The time has arrived for the people of the Mountain State to think long and hard about which course they want to choose.
Some grassroots activists in West Virginia have been already been thinking "long and hard" about which course they want to choose. They want a way forward for their community that includes clean, safe, homegrown jobs.
I think there are other options beyond coal because coal's not gonna be here forever - our grandchildren and great-grandchildren, what are they gonna do when coal's not here? There needs to be some kind of other jobs besides coal. I think there's a lot of smaller businesses that would like to be in this area, but they're scared off because of the mining. If you can get a few things started, you can get a few people to work - you can even employ these high school graduates. There's not a lot of young people; what ones are here, they leave or they go in the mines because that's the only thing to do, and by the time they're 30, they're half-dead.
Unfortunately, since too many politicians remain focused on bringing large-scale coal-based development to Appalachia we still need a hand-up for communities ravaged by coal-mining, not yet another hand-out for coal mining companies.
These grassroots activists need our help
Like any volunteer effort, the Sustainable Energy and Economic Development project cannot be sustained by sweat equity alone. It needs your help. There is an immediate need for anemometers to measure wind feasibility, then there are additional costs associated with the purchase and installation of wind turbines in the Coal River Valley.
Sustainable Energy and Economic Development is a community organizing project connecting residents of the Coal River Valley to one another and to the outside resources they need to make their small business and renewable energy ventures a reality. We began by meeting with twelve families in the valley over the summer and fall, and identified three inspiring projects to pursue. Two families are in the beginning stages of a community owned wind development project. One group of woodworkers are building a wood kiln to dry and increase the value of sustainably forested lumber. The SEED Community Team formed as a group of locals generating new ideas for community revival and economic diversification in monthly meetings. In their latest meeting, they resolved to build a community owned greenhouse and plan to break ground on the project in the winter. The entrepreneurial spirit is spreading!
Sustainable Energy and Economic Development is structured to ensure accountability to community members. It begins with listening to community members, and the Community Team ensures that project organizers do not veer off course in the collaborative process of small business development.
Organizers are working on two wind development projects in the the valley. They need to start raising funds today to be able to purchase and install a 100 kilowatt wind turbines as soon as possible and stake the community's claim on the toe of Coal River Mountain. This single-turbine installation lays the groundwork for larger wind development in the future.
I, too, am frustrated with Washington these days. The solution, however, is not to tune out but to work locally, "where you can celebrate victory," in the words of Cindy Sheehan.
Our fund-raising drive for the Sustainable Energy and Environmental Diversity (SEED) community project at Coal River Mountain Watch is off to a great start. A huge thank you to those of you who have already contributed. I'm going to be writing more diaries on the topic over the next week.
For today, I just have this simple request. As I write, we're at 17% of our fund-raising target. Please take a moment to contribute now. Let's hit 25% of the target today.
If enough of us contribute, maybe we can even shame the more, how-you-say, cantankerous members of West Virginia Blue into chipping in $17, too. If that's not enough motivation for you, just think how many flat-earther climate change denialist's heads will explode when we hit our target!
I don't know about you, but I'm pretty frustrated by the pace of change in West Virginia. I get angry when state politicians say they'll speak with 'one voice' for coal interests while ignoring the rest of us. I'm ready to send a signal that even here in Appalachia we are committed to addressing the deteriorating atmosphere.
So many of the debates going on today are remote and distant, sometimes it feels hard to impact what's going on in Charleston, Washington, or Copenhagen. I've spent a lot of time thinking about what we can do today, something that can have an positive immediate impact and I've finally found something.
We've talked many times about the importance and difficulties of developing sustainable diverse economic opportunities in West Virginia. Thankfully, there are committed grass-roots activists working hard at these efforts.
Blasts have reverberated off the top of Coal River Mountain since mid-October. Each boom is a reminder of how much is at stake in the Coal River Valley. For two years, residents of the Coal River Valley campaigned for the mountain's preservation for development as an industrial-scale wind farm. A wind farm in the Coal River Valley would chart a new course for the region and pose a true threat to those who seek to demolish West Virginia's natural resources and heritage for short term profit. Though blasting has begun, the battle for Coal River Mountain is far from over, and in the valley below, residents are increasingly taking sustainable development into their own hands as part of Coal River Mountain Watch's Sustainable Economic and Energy Diversification (SEED) project.
SEED is a community organizing project designed to connect residents of the Coal River Valley to one another and the outside resources they need to make their small business and renewable energy ventures a reality. We began by meeting with twelve families in the valley over the summer and fall, and identified three inspiring projects to pursue. Two families are in the beginning stages of a community owned wind development project. One group of woodworkers are building a wood kiln to dry and increase the value of sustainably forested lumber. The SEED Community Team formed as a group of locals generating new ideas for community revival and economic diversification in monthly meetings. In their latest meeting, they resolved to build a community owned greenhouse and plan to break ground on the project in the winter. The entrepreneurial spirit is spreading!
SEED volunteers help with construction of a community center building in Rock Creek, WV
SEED is structured to ensure accountability to community members. It begins with listening to community members, and the Community Team ensures that project organizers do not veer off course in the collaborative process of small business development.
Judy Gunnoe lives at the head of Lick Creek Hollow, nestled between two toes of Coal River Mountain. "I think there are other options beyond coal because coal's not gonna be here forever - our grandchildren and great-grandchildren, what are they gonna do when coal's not here? There needs to be some kind of other jobs besides coal. I think there's a lot of smaller businesses that would like to be in this area, but they're scared off because of the mining. If you can get a few things started, you can get a few people to work - you can even employ these high school graduates. There's not a lot of young people; what ones are here, they leave or they go in the mines because that's the only thing to do, and by the time they're 30, they're half-dead." The Gunnoes are SEED community leaders and are building a community center and hope to put wind turbines on the ridge above their home.
Organizers are working on two wind development projects in the the valley. They need to start raising funds today to be able to purchase and install a 100 kilowatt wind turbines as soon as possible and stake the community's claim on the toe of Coal River Mountain. This single-turbine installation lays the groundwork for larger wind development in the future.
Like any volunteer effort, the SEED project cannot be sustained by sweat equity alone. It needs your help. There is an immediate need for anemometers to measure wind feasibility, then there are additional costs associated with the purchase and installation of wind turbines in the Coal River Valley.
Community members visit a wind farm in April, 2009
Contribute $17, $34, or even $170 today to safe, clean, homegrown Sustainable Energy and Environmental Development for West Virginia Coal River valley. Send a clear signal that you want to that target to be at least 17%.
When we all work together, we can change our climate for good.
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
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.
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.
- 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.
Judge Chuck Chambers has ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did not give the public enough of a say on two MTR permits.
Sierra Club spokesman Oliver Bernstein says the decision issued Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Chuck Chambers affects most pending surface mine permits in West Virginia, the nation's No. 2 coal producer.
Today, organizations across the nation are joining forces with iLoveMountains.org to send a powerful message to the Obama Administration that blasting on Coal River Mountain needs to stop now. More than 500,000 people across the country are being asked to contact the 4 decision-makers in the Obama Administration that can put a stop to the blasting on Coal River Mountain. This could be the largest day of action on mountaintop removal ever, and we need your help to make history.
Will you take a moment to send a message to these decision-makers today?
Last week, we told you about how residents in southern West Virginia have been promoting a plan that would save the last remaining mountain in the Coal River Valley from mountaintop removal coal mining - through wind power. Your response to our appeal to contact the President was incredible. Reports came back from the White House of a deluge of calls, and in less than a week more than 1,500 new people joined the movement to end mountaintop removal coal mining.
But local reports of blasting on the mountain have continued to come in, and we need to redouble our efforts. Blasting is occuring directly next to the Brushy Fork slurry impoundment, a dam which holds 8.2 billion gallons of toxic coal slurry. Every day that blasting continues, more than 1,000 people are in danger of being overtaken by a 50-foot high wall of coal sludge should the dam fail.
The fate of Coal River Mountain is still uncertain, but its implications for our energy future are clear. Will we continue down the path of destroying our nation's oldest mountains for a few years worth of coal, or seize the opportunity to produce clean wind power for 85,000 homes and generate green jobs and a new energy economy?
350.org
Center for Biological Diversity
CREDO
Heartwood
iLoveMountains.org
NRDC
Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition
RAN
Sierra Club
Waterkeeper Alliance
Environmental group 1Sky West Virginia is holding an INFORMATIVE MEETING/POT LUCK DINNER on Saturday, October 24 at 6:00PM at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation (520 Kanawha Blvd. W.)in Charleston in support of a strong clean energy jobs bill in the U.S. Senate and to discuss the ever controversial subject, climate change. Bring a dish and/or softdrinks.
The group will also screen a few short films at the event.
This is the first global campaign ever organized around a scientific data point: 350 parts per million (ppm) CO2 is the safe upper limit for the atmosphere according to the latest scientific data. Already the Earth's atmosphere is at 387 ppm and the levels are rapidly rising. The 1Sky network will be calling for strong action in the U.S Senate and more engagement from President Obama to push toward the 350 ppm goal.
The environment, food, movies- Saturday, October 24 at 6PM at the UUC in Charleston. Be there!
For more info, contact Andrew Porter at andrew@greencorps.org.
After the 1Sky event, stick around for the Anne Feeney and David Rovics concert at 7:30PM. Suggested admission price $15. No one will be turned away for their ability to pay.
Anne Feeney and David Rovics: Accomplished singer-songwriters 'Union has made us Strong' Midwest Tour, supporting environmental, labor, women's and anti-war movements. Both regularly tour throughout North America, Europe, and Australia.
Wow, Gov. Manchin comes across looking even worse than I expected in this video. Major kudos to the activists who handled themselves so well in this exchange.
"We want to do everything. We're committed to attracting wind farms and attracting solar farms. We're looking at all of that."
Gov. Manchin, let me humbly suggest that reading up just a wee little bit on the Coal River Mountain project might just help "trying (to) find a balance."
It's quite worrisome that Gov. Manchin views West Virginia as an "extractive state." If he widened his view just a little, at least thinking of W.Va. as an energy producing state--that would open up avenues.
Otherwise, you might want to read up on the resource curse some more, Gov. Manchin. If you are going to define our economy on the basis of extraction, there's a lot of negative consequences.
And, really, there's nothing wrong with being the Mountain State. There's a lot of great things you can do with Mountains. You can generate wind power, distributed small scale hydro, create beautiful tourism opportunities (including white-water rafting), and provide a wild, wonderful place to live.
Update: See below the fold for a statement from Climate Ground Zero on today's action.
This diary is my contribution to Blog Action Day: '09 Climate Change. "Blog Action Day is an annual event held every October 15 that unites the world's bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance."
Our planet is faced with a grave and serious danger: global climate change. How we go about addressing this issue will say as much about humanity as what we do to address it.
Unfortunately, here in Appalachia the fear of change is stoking divisions. Instead of coming together to face a common foe, man-made climate change, strong vested issues are stoking neighbors in fever-pitched disputes with one another.
The friends of coal may feel they made some tactical gains this week--they certainly showed they know how to shout down a speaker. But no matter how loud your cheering section is, it won't overcome being outmatched on the playing field.
In fact, if you listen carefully to the words of state Sen. H. Truman Chafin (D-Mingo) on the Youtube video above, you'll start to realize he not only stuck his foot in his mouth... he then proceeded to shoot himself in the foot.
Sen. Chafin completely ignored what the purpose of the hearing was. He failed to provide the Army Corp of Engineers with any useful information regarding rules changes they are required by recent court rulings to make. Instead, State Sen. Chafin decided to rile up the crowd to score cheap political points. That's grandstanding, not responsible leadership.
A National Backlash
Right now Big Coal has hat in hand in front of Congress asking for a huge new regulatory structure required in order for carbon capture and storage to have any chance of success.
To get that new regulatory structure enacted, Congress will need confidence that new enforcement mechanisms will favor long-term environmental concerns over short-term industry profit considerations. (CCS is a lot like nuclear waste... a toxic item to be stored forever.)
Pulling stunts like turning a deliberative public hearing into a political rally hurts Big Coal's lobbying efforts in Congress. Proving that the Army Corp of Engineers is unable to do something as simple as run a public hearing does nothing to inspire confidence they can handle permitting processes.
What Leadership Looks Like
Perhaps because they are there in D.C. negotiating on behalf of Big Coal, Rahall and Byrd seem to get this. The leaders here in W.Va. would do well to figure out this political calculus, too.
Just publicly going out and calling an agency names or beating up on an agency is not going to work when you go the next day or the next week to that agency and ask for their help. That's just human nature.
Coming Together
Trying to out-shout, rather than reason with, people with valid concerns does little to prove the coal industry is ready to be a partner in providing oversight for a complex new technology like carbon capture and storage. Plugging your ears and shouting yourself hoarse is a sure-fire way to get uninvited from a debate.
There are people who should know better--not just Internet commenters, but also people in charge of thing--equating the current non-violent protests with what I completely agree have been radical, extreme, violent actions in other parts of the country in the past.
Instead of making wild claims about threats to coal, we need honest brokers to negotiate a viable future for the West Virginia economy. If West Virginia coal companies want a place at the negotiating table for the future energy economy, they need to start acting responsibly. They owe that to their employees, they owe that the communities they claim to support, and, quite frankly, they owe it to their shareholders, too.
The suffering of those negatively effected by mountaintop removal is every bit as real as the fears of coal miners built up to an impassioned frenzy by friends of coal. Collaborating to find solutions, not confronting each other with yelling and screaming, will benefit us all.
We're all in this together. The sooner we can start working together to find solutions to the problems we all share, the better off we all are.
There are many ways to help change public policy. One of them is to show up to events like this and provide encouragement to those who share your views.
Those living near the Capital are blessed with multiple chances to get involved tonight. For those of us cheering you on from other corners of the state, make us proud by showing the power of showing up.
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Today, organizations across the nation are joining forces with iLoveMountains.org to send a powerful message to the Obama Administration that blasting on Coal River Mountain needs to stop now. More than 500,000 people across the country are being asked to contact the 4 decision-makers in the Obama Administration that can put a stop to the blasting on Coal River Mountain. This could be the largest day of action on mountaintop removal ever, and we need your help to make history.
Environmental group 1Sky West Virginia is holding an INFORMATIVE MEETING/POT LUCK DINNER on Saturday, October 24 at 6:00PM at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation (520 Kanawha Blvd. W.)in Charleston in support of a strong clean energy jobs bill in the U.S. Senate and to discuss the ever controversial subject, climate change. Bring a dish and/or softdrinks.
