In the last week, iLoveMountains.org supporter have made quite a bit of noise. Because of your activity, 2 nationally syndicated radio programs covered mountaintop removal coal mining. Nice work everybody!

3rd Annual Mountaintop Removal Week in Washington covered by NPR’s All Things Considered, April 21, 2008

New Breed of Lobbyists Hail from Appalachia - Lobbyists are everywhere on Capitol Hill. But it’s not always high-priced professionals that get lawmakers’ attention. A cadre of Appalachian residents has come to lobby for environmental protections from coal-mining waste. For many, it was their first trip to Washington, D.C. Listen to the whole story here.

iLoveMountains.org’s “My Connection” Coal Tracking Maps covered on WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi Show, April 17, 2008

Mapping Out Activism - Many of us use online maps to navigate unfamiliar streets. But activists are tapping into digital technologies to demonstrate connections between global crises and our day-to-day lives. We discuss how digital maps are putting a different face on global and environmental issues. Listen to the whole story here.

April 16th, 2008 — The following email was sent to the 28,000+ supporters of iLoveMountains.org. To sign up to receive free email alerts, click here.

We have some great news to share from our 3rd Annual Week in Washington.

First, I want to thank everyone who called or emailed their Representatives in Congress last week. Every call and email made a tremendous difference to the 125 volunteers from across the country who traveled to our nation’s capital to help put an end to mountaintop removal coal mining.

As a result of your efforts on the phone and online, combined with the efforts of our volunteers in Washington:

• Our volunteers met with more than 30 Senators or Senate offices, and more than 110 Congressional offices;
• We gained several new friends in the Senate, who are willing to begin working on a strategy to introduce a counterpart to the CWPA in the U.S. Senate;
• New co-sponsors in the House include the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus; and
• We now have a record 134 cosponsors for the Clean Water Protection Act in the U.S. House.

Click here to see if your Representative is now a cosponsor.

Click here to view photos of the Week in Washington.

In addition to our success on the Hill, last week’s action in Washington attracted the attention of numerous members of the press. As a result, we had the opportunity to educate journalists from NPR to the Washington Post and beyond about our efforts to protect the mountains we all love.

There’s even more to come soon. In the next few weeks, I’ll be emailing you about a major new initiative we have planned to educate even more people about the urgent need to stop mountaintop removal coal mining.

But for now — thank you, again, for helping to make last week such a wonderful success.

Mary Anne Hitt
iLoveMountains.org

April 8th, 2008 — The following email was sent to the 28,000+ supporters of iLoveMountains.org. To sign up to receive free email alerts, click here.

Today, 125 volunteers from more than 20 states are in our nation’s capital as part of iLoveMountain’s 3rd Annual Mountaintop Removal Week in Washington.

They’re going from office to office on Capitol Hill, telling members of Congress that now is the time to take action to stop mountaintop removal coal mining.

But they need your support. Click here to watch a video message from our volunteers in Washington:

Can you take a moment to join thousands of other iLoveMountain.org supporters who are calling their representatives today and asking them to co-sponsor the Clean Water Protection Act (H.R. 2169), which would sharply limit mountaintop removal coal mining?

Click here to learn more about the Clean Water Protection Act and to call your representative today.

Your support right now will make a tremendous difference to our volunteers in Washington — and it could make the difference in our efforts to stop mountaintop removal coal mining.

Please, help us light up the Congressional Switchboard today — and let your representative know your commitment to defending our mountains:

http://www.ilovemountains.org/action/call-your-rep

Thank you for taking action,

Mary Anne Hitt
iLoveMountains.org

P.S. If you would prefer to email your representative, click

April 6th, 2008 — The following email was sent to the 28,000+ supporters of iLoveMountains.org. To sign up to receive free email alerts, click here.

I wanted to send you a quick note and a photo to let you know that our 3rd Annual Week in Washington is now getting underway.

More than 125 people from all across the country — people like you who care about the mountains and are committed to stopping mountaintop removal coal mining — have come to Washington to spend the next several days meeting face to face with members of Congress.

Our goal is to expand our record 129 co-sponsors of the Clean Water Protection Act — and to convince legislators that now is the time to take action to end mountaintop removal coal mining.

We’ve just now wrapped up our “citizen’s lobbying” training session, and as you can see from the photo, our volunteers on the ground are raring to head out to “the Hill” in defense of our mountains.

You can help make this week a success. I’ll be writing to you on Tuesday and asking for you to take just five minutes of your time to help with our efforts here in DC by calling your representative in Congress.

Please, keep your eyes peeled for that next email — your support on Tuesday means a great deal to the 125 volunteers who have traveled from all over the country to be here for this important week.

Thank you for taking action.

Mary Anne Hitt
iLoveMountains.org

Potentially volatile prayer vigil turns to calm discussion

ANSTED, W.VA. — Early Saturday (April 5) morning, dozens of mountaintop removal opponents converged on Gauley Mountain for Blessing of the Mountain II, intending to pray near a mountaintop removal operation above the Fayette County community of Ansted. But, a similar number of employees of CONSOL coal company were already there, blocking access to the prayer site.

So Reverends Roy Crist and Stan Holmes set up a music stand amongst the strip mine workers’ vehicles. The mountaintop removal opponents stood amongst the coal workers and services began.

“There are no enemies here,” Crist said. He made an effort to shake the hand of every one of the mountaintop removal workers present.

The mountaintop removal opponents read prayers, sang hymns and spoke against mountaintop removal. At one point, a CONSOL worker stepped into the midst of the service and it looked as if the situation could turn volatile. But the crowd began singing “Amazing Grace,” easing the tension between the two groups.

After the services concluded, many from both sides stood and talked calmly with one another about the need for change.

“We let our presence be known to the public. Even though we had opposition, everything came out in a positive manner,” said Ansted Historical Preservation Council member Karen Huffman.

Allen Johnson, a founder of Christians for the Mountains, said the event, “dissolved some of the polarization” between the community and the strip mine workers.

The Ansted Historical Preservation Council planned the vigil. Fliers for the event said people were invited to join in prayer, to seek “Divine intervention and wisdom to contradict the devastation created by mountaintop removal mining practices.”

The council has been organizing in Ansted and surrounding tourism-dependent communities, attempting to stop a 286-acre Powellton Coal mountaintop removal operation which would be visible from the New River Gorge Bridge and would affect the Gauley River National Recreation Area. The permit boundary allows mining right up to the boundary of Hawks Nest State Park.

Residents worry the mining might unleash flash flooding if old abandoned mines and tunnels in the area are breached. They also worry that blasting will send clouds of silica laden dust into the air.

A recent WVU study indicates that people living near coal mining operations suffer higher incidences of certain diseases and increased mortality rates.

“It was good to see both sides of the issue, and the vigil drew attention to the question of what is West Virginia going to do,” said Peter Bosch, with the Christian student group Restoring Eden.

“What are you going to do in a few years down the road when your job is gone?” Ansted community leader Cary Huffman asked a group of coal workers. They agreed there needs to be more conversation between the workers and community members. They exchanged names, handed out phone numbers, shook hands and went their separate ways.

For more on the organizing in Fayette County, WV go to: www.ohvec.org

All photos by Viv Stockman www.ohvec.org

March 2, 2008 — The following email was sent to 29.807 supporters of iLoveMountains.org. To sign up to receive free email alerts, click here.

Earlier this year, we wrote to tell you how 2008 would be a defining year for the coal industry.

And so far, it’s going quite badly for them.

As the environmental website Grist put it:

Just in the past week, elite opinion against coal has accelerated, two major coal projects have run into embarrassments, and an independent report has confirmed that things are only going to get worse. Now you know why Big Coal has been sponsoring presidential debates, putting Santas on corners around D.C., and pouring millions of dollars into a PR campaign.

The tide is turning against coal because thousands of people like you are making their voices heard in the fight to end mountaintop removal coal mining.

More than 27,000 people have signed up on iLoveMountains.org. And more than 43,000 Americans recently spoke out against a proposed Bush administration rule that would weaken the Stream Buffer Zone (SBZ) rule and pave the way to more mountaintop removal coal mining.

43,000 people. As Carl Shoupe of Harlan County, a member of Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, asks, “How can 43,000 people stand up and speak like we spoke against this destruction and somebody not hear us?”

Well, the truth is — they are hearing us. They’re hearing us in the boardrooms of Big Coal and in the halls of Congress, where your actions have convinced a historic 129 members of Congress to co-sponsor the Clean Water Protection Act (CWPA), which would sharply curtail mountaintop removal coal mining and protect our rivers and streams.

Now, I’d like to personally ask you to join me and make your voice heard in our nation’s capitol.

April 5th- April 9th, 2008 is our 3rd Annual Mountaintop Removal Week in Washington — the chance for people like you from all across the country to meet your representatives and ask them to stop the destructive practice of mountaintop removal coal mining.

Last year’s week in Washington was a tremendous success. More than 100 people from 19 states came to Washington, holding more than 100 meetings with Congressional offices and 20 face-to-face meetings with Members of Congress.

Can you join us this year in Washington? You’ll get to meet and work with other passionate Appalachian activists from around the country; develop and hone your outreach skills in our outreach workshops; attend a congressional reception sponsored by Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey; and meet face to face with legislators to help inspire and educate them to pass legislation to end mountaintop removal coal mining.

To learn more and register for the Week in Washington, click here: http://www.ilovemountains.org/action/wiw2008 The deadline for registering for this year’s week in Washington is Friday, March 14. So please, sign up today!

PS: If you can’t attend the Week in Washington in person, please consider making a contribution to support a volunteer. Just $35 will cover most meals for one volunteer; $50 will cover a volunteer’s hotel room for one night; while $150 will cover some volunteer’s travel one way. Click here to support a volunteer today.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, March 3, 2008

Contact: Joel Finkelstein, (202) 822-5200

BOONE, NC and WASHINGTON, DC – Advocates for the mountains and coalfield residents today opened a new front in the fight against destructive coal mining, filing suit in Washington, D.C. District Court to stop federal investment in new power plants that would enshrine coal for another generation.

The suit, filed by the North Carolina-based Appalachian Voices and Canary Coalition, states that the federal government shouldn’t be in the business of subsidizing coal plants without knowing the true environmental costs – including impacts of ultra-destructive mountaintop removal coal mining. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 included $1.65 billion in tax incentives for new coal plants, $1 billion of which has been allocated to nine projects around the country.

“The fact is that there’s no such thing as clean coal as long as our mountains are getting clear-cut, blown up and bulldozed down,” said Mary Anne Hitt, Executive Director of Appalachian Voices. “Right now, the electricity that powers your home may well come from mountaintop removal coal. We need fewer coal plants, not more.”

Mountaintop removal coal mining is an extremely destructive form of strip mining found throughout Appalachia, with some mines as big as the island of Manhattan. Coalfield residents say that it tears apart communities, poisons water supplies, pollutes the air and destroys our nation’s natural heritage – while only making the climate crisis worse.

“Members of the Canary Coalition and all people who live, work or vacation in western North Carolina are feeling the impact of existing coal-burning power plants on our health and the environment,” said Avram Friedman, Executive Director of the Canary Coalition. “Asthma related to ozone pollution is the largest cause of absenteeism in our public schools. Emphysema plagues the elderly in this region. Heart and lung disease related to fine particulate sulfur dioxide has been documented by the American Lung Association. We are threatened by tropical diseases migrating north due to global warming caused by carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. The status quo of air quality in western North Carolina is unacceptable. Building and operating a new coal-burning power plant such as Duke Energy’s planned expansion at Cliffside is unacceptable.”

Of the nine experimental coal facilities that have received tax incentives, none have conducted an environmental impact assessment (EIA) looking at the impact of coal on the environment – as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The nine facilities include a Duke Energy projects in Edwardsport, IN and in Rutherford and Cleveland Counties, NC; a Mississippi Power Company project; an E.ON U.S. & Louisville Gas and Electric project in Bedford, KY; a Carson Hydrogen Power project in Carson, CA; a TX Energy project in Longview, TX; a Tampa Electric project in Polk County, FL (that is currently delayed); and two anonymous coal gasification projects.

The effort to end mountaintop removal has been gaining steam over the past year. As of today, the leading Congressional plan to end the practice has 129 co-sponsors – dozens more than last Congress, and only halfway through this session.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, March 3, 2008

Contact: Joel Finkelstein, (202) 822-5200

Mountaintop Advocates Open New Front in Fight Against Coal

Challenge Billion-Dollar Government Giveaways for Not Considering Cost to the Mountains

BOONE, NC and WASHINGTON, DC — Advocates for the mountains and coalfield residents today opened a new front in the fight against destructive coal mining, filing suit in Washington, D.C. District Court to stop federal investment in new power plants that would enshrine coal for another generation.

The suit, filed by the North Carolina-based Appalachian Voices and Canary Coalition, states that the federal government shouldn’t be in the business of subsidizing coal plants without knowing the true environmental costs - including impacts of ultra-destructive mountaintop removal coal mining. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 included $1.65 billion in tax incentives for new coal plants, $1 billion of which has been allocated to nine projects around the country.

“The fact is that there’s no such thing as clean coal as long as our mountains are getting clear-cut, blown up and bulldozed down,” said Mary Anne Hitt, Executive Director of Appalachian Voices. “Right now, the electricity that powers your home may well come from mountaintop removal coal. We need fewer coal plants, not more.”

Mountaintop removal coal mining is an extremely destructive form of strip mining found throughout Appalachia, with some mines as big as the island of Manhattan. Coalfield residents say that it tears apart communities, poisons water supplies, pollutes the air and destroys our nation’s natural heritage - while only making the climate crisis worse.

“Members of the Canary Coalition and all people who live, work or vacation in western North Carolina are feeling the impact of existing coal-burning power plants on our health and the environment,” said Avram Friedman, Executive Director of the Canary Coalition. “Asthma related to ozone pollution is the largest cause of absenteeism in our public schools. Emphysema plagues the elderly in this region. Heart and lung disease related to fine particulate sulfur dioxide has been documented by the American Lung Association. We are threatened by tropical diseases migrating north due to global warming caused by carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. The status quo of air quality in western North Carolina is unacceptable. Building and operating a new coal-burning power plant such as Duke Energy’s planned expansion at Cliffside is unacceptable.”

Of the nine experimental coal facilities that have received tax incentives, none have conducted an environmental impact assessment (EIA) looking at the impact of coal on the environment - as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The nine facilities include a Duke Energy projects in Edwardsport, IN and in Rutherford and Cleveland Counties, NC; a Mississippi Power Company project; an E.ON U.S. & Louisville Gas and Electric project in Bedford, KY; a Carson Hydrogen Power project in Carson, CA; a TX Energy project in Longview, TX; a Tampa Electric project in Polk County, FL (that is currently delayed); and two anonymous coal gasification projects.

The effort to end mountaintop removal has been gaining steam over the past year. As of today, the leading Congressional plan to end the practice has 129 co-sponsors - dozens more than last Congress, and only halfway through this session.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — No fewer than 43,000 Americans spoke out during the public comment period on a U.S. Department of Interior Office of Surface Mining (OSM) proposal to weaken the Stream Buffer Zone (SBZ) rule and unleash more mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining, according to information gathered by 700Mountains.org and the Citizens Lead for Energy Action Now (CLEAN) coalition.

The “overwhelming majority” of the 43,000 comments were opposed to the industry-backed draft rule that would weaken the SBZ rule and pave the way for significantly more MTR-related pollution, including the potential leveling of up to 700 mountains over the next 10 years.

In conversations with a representative of 700Mountains.org, two OSM officials confirmed the total number of comments and the extraordinarily high level of opposition to the SBZ rule proposal.

The strong opposition to OSM’s proposed SBZ rule is consistent with the findings of a September 2007 survey sponsored by 700Mountains.org project of the nonprofit and nonpartisan Civil Society Institute (CSI) think tank. That survey conducted by Opinion Research Corporation that two out of three Americans (65 percent) oppose the Bush Administration’s proposed rule “to ease environmental regulations to permit wider use of ‘mountaintop removal’ coal mining in the U.S.” The survey also found that the Bush Administration plan to permit wider MTR coal mining is favored by only about one out of four Americans (26 percent), including just 14 percent of Democrats, 27 percent of Independents, and 42 percent of Republicans. Full survey findings are available online at 700Mountains.org

Under the industry’s proposed SBZ rule change, mining companies would be permitted to dump their waste into streams and other fresh drinking water supplies. The new rule would unleash more MTR coal mining, which buries fresh water streams and creates toxic coal slurry impoundments, while employing many fewer miners than are involved in traditional mining methods. MTR coal mining already has destroyed more than 1,000 miles of fresh water streams and 700 mountains in the U.S. Changing the SBZ rule would result in the destruction of 1,000 more miles of streams and up to 700 additional mountains.