Mountaintop Removal Clearinghouse

Pics from the Daily Kos

A poem by Wanda.

My List of What We’re Losing in Mountain Top Removal

Firefly evenings
in mountain shadows,
water sung music
from scyamore choirs
on quiet mist mornings,
even Kudzu our savage
invader,

views of legends,
breaths of greatness,
creations of heaven,
memories,
culture,

dignity.

West Virginia smiles
warm and wild on an autumn day.
West Virginia smiles
like she wishes you would stay.
West Virginia smiles
and I’m smilin’ too:
broad and wide I cannot hide so glad to be with you.

West Virginia smiles
she’s so proud of her past.
West Virginia smiles
fueled a nation’s furnace blast.
West Virginia smiles
and we smile right back:
forged in bonds unbreakable we’re family to the last.

West Virginia smiles
through the tears of grieving wives.
West Virginia smiles
honors men who gave their lives.
West Virginia smiles
and she opens her arms wide:
so grateful for the chance to meet each new one that arrives.

West Virginia smiles
for how much longer I don’t know.
West Virginia smiles
while they’re raping her for coal.
West Virginia smiles
how can they be so bold?
‘Cause shaven hills and hollow fills must be troubling to her soul.

Fill all the valleys, make the moutains fall.
Isn’t that what ol’ Isaiah said?
But this one sure don’t look to me like no prophet’s call:
with increasing speed they feed their greed
it’s the call of profit instead.

But West Virginia smile
we won’t abandon you to die.
West Virginia smile
let your spruces scratch the sky.
West Virginia smile
wipe that teardrop from your eye.
We don’t know if we’ll win this one but we sure are gonna try

to see West Virginia smile
for ages all to come.
And the mountaineers stand high
while woodpeckers beat the drum.
West Virginia smiles
and it almost strikes me dumb:
so blest to see in her this day a little piece of where she’s from.

Learn the story of the song from the writer. And listen to a snippet sung by Jay Clark.

Let it be known that activist Corina Lang of Southern Illinois was so moved by what she learned from a Heartwood conference about mountaintop removal coal mining that she pimped out her truck with banners and literature and took off on a five week journey across the US, going as far as Seattle, spreading the message about the evil of mountaintop removal.

“It doesn’t matter what your politics are. Most people think this is wrong,” says Lang. She’s gotten a little funding for her trip, and much of her support has come from churches in the southern states affected by the practice.

“Many people there have strong faith. They believe this is a sin against God.”

Teen Environmentalists of Kentucky is hosting the second annual Earth Rock, a mountaintop removal awareness concert on Aug. 26 at 5 p.m. at the Kentucky Horse Park campground pavilion. See more here.

A couple of West Virginia housewives-cum-activists are trying to get a noise ordinance passed in their hometown of Stephens in Wise County. They would like to limit the 20+ hour per day blasting from the mining operation that looms above their town to 15 hours per day, 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on weekdays and on Sundays, the noise couldn’t start until 10:00 a.m. Anti-mountaintop removal activists throughout Southern Appalachian are looking on with interest to see how this plays out. The Roanoke Times has the rest of the story.

Read a banner unfurled from a plane calling out West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin during his attendence at the National Governors Association Conference in Charleston, SC. This was one of several efforts by activists from the Mountain Justice Summer campaign who spent the weekend in Charleston working to end mountaintop removal coal mining in Southern Appalachia. Infoshop News has more on the demonstrations and street theatre that ensued.

MTR destroys entire mountains to make it easier for coal companies to access coal veins. These deposits are found in “seems” hundreds of feet under the surface, that are generally no more than 4 feet thick, but often as thin as 2 or 3 inches.

We were given a tour of two different abandoned MTR sites, by a local man, who was a former coal miner and a federal inspector of coal mines. You could see the coal seems and the destruction created. The first site involved the destruction of more than 100 feet of sandstone (not to mention the forest and wildlife above it) for two seems of coal totalling no more than 4 feet of coal (the top seem was only a few inches) The second site there were no visible seems of coal, but our local guide explained that there were more seems under parts not yet exposed, that the company may choose to try mining in the future.

A report back from the EarthFirst! Round River Rendezvous at the Jefferson National Forrest on the Kentucky-Virginia border.

Join coalfield citizens and community activists in Charleston, SC, August 4-6 for the Governors Association Convention.

Because of the indifference and complicity of the governors of these states [TN, KY, VA, WV] over 500 square miles of forested mountains have been leveled in southern Appalachia, lost forever to the greed of politicians and businessmen.

For more information, see ShiftShapers blogd on the Guerrilla News Network.

Joint the folks at Appalachian Voices (see my blogroll for their The Front Porch blog on coal mining) September 9 - 13 for Mountaintop Removal Week in Washington, DC.

Here’s the plan:

Please join Appalachian Voices and other concerned citizens across the country in Washington, DC, to advance the Clean Water Protection Act (HR 2719) and help end mountaintop removal coal mining.

The Mountaintop Removal Week in Washington is an opportunity for you to devote your ideas, passion and abilities to protecting the mountains of Appalachia. The Clean Water Protection Act (HR 2719) reestablishes the original intent of the Clean Water Act, and reverses the 2002 rule change that redefined “waste” to allow coal companies to dump millions of tons of mining waste into nearby streams. The Week in Washington is your chance to help end this devastating practice.

You’ll start your Week in Washington experience by meeting other Appalachian activists from around the country at a Saturday evening reception. Sunday will be filled with panels and speeches from Appalachian advocates, intensive workshops and training on outreach, and meetings with your lobbying team. On Monday through Wednesday, you and your team will meet with your representatives and their staff to educate them about mountaintop removal. The ability to lobby your representative is one of the most powerful rights we have as Americans, and this is your chance to exercise it for the mountains!

Registration and more information provided on the Appalachian Voices site.