Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

The following email was sent to the 40,600 supporters of iLoveMountains.org. To sign up to receive free email alerts, click here.

This week, more than 200 citizens from Appalachia and across the U.S. are gathering in our nation’s capital as part of our 5th Annual End Mountaintop Removal Week in Washington.

They will be meeting with members of Congress to urge them to co-sponsor H.R. 1310, the Clean Water Protection Act, which would help to end mountaintop removal coal extraction. This issue is extremely urgent and the coal industry is working overtime to block the passage of this bill.

Please take a moment to contact your Representative’s office and ask them to sign on to save streams. Hearing from their constituents is incredibly powerful, and you can help end mountaintop removal with a simple phone call. Just dial (202) 224-3121, or use our free online calling tool. Here is a script to help you:

Hello, my name is ______________ and I live in ________________. I’m calling to request that the Representative becomes a co-sponsor of the Clean Water Protection Act - H.R. 1310.  This bill would help stop mountaintop removal coal mining — a dangerous form of coal mining that happens in Appalachia. More than 2,000 miles of streams have been destroyed by mountaintop removal, and it poses a serious health risk to local citizens. The destruction of clean water and endangerment of American citizens is an urgent national issue, and I would appreciate your support of the Clean Water Protection Act.

Thanks for all you do,

Matt Wasson
iLoveMountains.org

PS - Please also consider sponsoring the End Mountaintop Removal Week in Washington by donating here: https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1741/t/6886/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=4490

Monday, March 8th, 2010

By Marsha Johnston
A citizen participant in the Alliance for Appalachia’s annual Week in Washington

Over 200 citizen lobbyists from as far away as California and Oregon converged on Washington, DC this weekend to push Congress to pass legislation in 2010 that will put an end to mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia. Our excitement built throughout the day as a series of passionate, well-organized presentations from staff members and coalfield residents inspired, shocked, informed and amused us into readiness for tackling Capitol Hill.

Deftly ironic, Mickey McCoy from Kentuckians for the Commonwealth made us laugh while presenting the horrific facts of mountaintop removal. “They have a lot of soft words for what they’re doing. Like `pond’ for slurry. We’re talkin’ 72 acres! That’s a lake. And `spill’. `Spill’ is what happens when your son reaches over the table and spills his sister’s milk. These are floods. Even mountaintop removal doesn’t sound too bad if you say it real fast. They should really be calling it `mountain bombing’.”

As new citizen lobbyists, we began doing just that.

View pics of Week in Washington

Among several inspiring coalfield resident testimonies, Cari Moore was particularly compelling. An eighth-generation Appalachian and grand-daughter of a preacher-miner, Cari recounted how, incredibly, fellow Appalachians label her “outsider” for opposing the destruction of her family’s beloved mountains. “I try to imagine how he would react if someone said that children are breathing the same dust that gave him black lung, and I cannot imagine in my heart that he would support mountaintop removal mining,” she said. She also recounted how her community, trying to provide cleaner water by switching systems, now finds that its new system–which is closer to a mountaintop removal site–has 3 times the recommended levels of manganese instead of just 2.5 times.

Despite the money and purchased politicians behind King Coal, many presenters confessed a sense of guarded optimism. Long-time activist Lorelei Scarboro, of Coal River Mountain Watch, said she saw the momentum change with the arrival of the Obama Administration, and that we are getting more meetings with higher-level officers than ever before, who are listening. One staff member, noting that Appalachian state legislators are getting a bit desperate since the EPA said it would scrutinize MTR permits more closely, with West Virginia passing legislation naming coal the state rock.

More than once, staff members reminded us of Gandhi’s wisdom about fighting Goliath, saying we are in the last phase before winning: “First they laugh at you, then they ignore you, then they fight with you, then you win.”

Citizens will be lobbying representatives and senators Monday through Wednesday of this week. A national call-in day will take place on Tuesday, March 9. Find out how you can participate by calling your Congressperson or Senator, or learn more about the Clean Water Protection Act or the Appalachia Restoration Act.

Friday, March 5th, 2010

Due to unclear rulings by the Supreme Court regarding the Clean Water Act, the EPA’s hands are tied on some waterways.

Loopholes and gray areas are leaving waterways unprotected and pollution rates are on the rise.

“…Midlevel E.P.A. officials said that internal studies indicated that as many as 45 percent of major polluters might be either outside regulatory reach or in areas where proving jurisdiction is overwhelmingly difficult,” said Charles Duhigg and Janet Roberts in their article, “Rulings Restrict Clean Water Act, Foiling E.P.A.”

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

Selenium, one of the pollutants related to mountaintop removal coal mining, poses serious health risks to both aquatic life and human life.

“We’re killing fish right now with selenium pollution from mountaintop removal mining. Toxic levels of selenium were found in 73 of 78 stream samples. The threat is expanding as use of this destructive process expands. Once these ecosystems are polluted, damage to the environment is permanent…I specialize in fish, but that is only one part of the overall picture. Public health is also an issue with mountaintop removal mining. Once in the aquatic environment, waterborne selenium can enter the food chain and reach levels that are toxic to fish and wildlife.”
–Dennis Lemly, professor of biology at Wake Forest University

Click here to read “Selenium Pollution and Mountaintop Mining: Experts Present New Studies,” by Softpedia.com.

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

As coal ash is shipped from Kingston, Tenn., the site of TVA’s coal ash disaster, to the Arrowhead Landfill, in Uniontown, Ala., controversy continues to rise over what scholars call, an environmental injustice.

According to the EPA, environmental justice is the “fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.”

CBS News reports on the issue:

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

The National Resources Defense Council is sponsoring “Music Saves Mountains,” (link: http://www.musicsavesmountains.org/) a concert dedicated to raising awareness about mountaintop removal.

The concert, hosted on May 19 at 8 p.m. at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn., will feature artists such as Ben Sollee, Dave Matthews, Sheryl Crow, and Kathy Mattea.

Tickets go on sale on March 5 at 10 a.m. Click here to buy tickets: www.ryman.com.

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

OVEC is trying to buy land in Twilight in Boone County, W.Va., in order to prevent a coal company from purchasing the land for mountaintop removal. The land includes two houses, seven buildings, a little over nine acres and the mineral rights to all of it.

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

The Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection Act (S. 1406/H.R. 899), would limit the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) from approving certain types of surface mining permits based on outlined conditions. The bill was introduced to the Tennessee House of Representatives by Reps. Bill Dunn and Michael Ray, while Sens. Bill Ketron and Doug Jackson introduced it to the Tennessee Senate.

According to the text of the bill, permits would not be issued or renewed if the surface mining operation or its waste, fill, or in-stream treatment takes place within 100 feet of any Tennesseee water system. A permit that would improve the quality of a body of water previously impacted by mining practices would, however, be eligible for issuance or renewal.

Another provision of the bill would prohobit permits that would certify surface mining at and above 2,000 feet elevation from sea level if it would disturb a ridgeline. The expection to this rule would be if the permit required some surface mining in order to conduct underground mining, if approved by TDEC.

Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey shares his thoughts on mountaintop removal and the Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection Act:

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

An Army veteran returns from war abroad and finds that his home has suffered a similar destruction.

” I expected such images of destruction in Iraq and Afghanistan. But not in West Virginia.
Yet the ugly reality of mountaintop removal coal mining is what greeted me on my return home after a year-long tour in Iraq. Seeing the land I fought to protect being abused in such reckless fashion hit me in the gut, hard. It took years to recover my motivation to continue to fight for what I believe in back home”
-Jon Gesler, Army Captain

Gesler demands change in order to protect the land, the people, and the economy of West Virginia, as well as the nation’s security.

“We are at a tremendous crossroads, and taking these steps is the right thing to do to honor our past, and the right thing to do for tomorrow. Let’s work for a better future that gives West Virginians – and all Americans – the freedom to thrive in a new energy economy rather than slowly dying with the old. “
-Jon Gesler

Click here to read his full story.

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

iLoveMountains.org was praised for the way that we implement GIS and satellite photos as educational tools about mountaintop removal in “The Illustrated Guide to Nonprofit GIS* and Online Mapping,” by MapTogether.org.

MapTogether.org says, “…the site has been recognized by Google Earth Outreach and many other organizations as a pioneering implementer of GIS for advocacy and activism purposes.”

Click here to read the full report.