Rise Up! West Virginia

Rest In Peace - Judy Bonds

2011-01-06T08:17:00.003-05:00

In Loving Memory
Julia Belle Thompson Bonds
Born August 27, 1952
Died January 3, 2011

Can You Say "Outrage"?

2010-09-02T08:47:00.003-04:00

Mountaintop Removal on the football field? Appears so, according to this post from Jeff Biggers

Fumble: NIKE Runs Mountaintop Removal Football Ad, Disrespects Coal Miners

West Virginia Mourns

2010-04-10T07:21:00.005-04:00

You can help by making a donation to the
Montcoal Mining Disaster Fund - WV Council of Churches

Justice in the WV Coalfields

2010-02-26T20:41:00.004-05:00

February 26, 2010
W. Va. man guilty of verbal assault on mining foes

BECKLEY, WV (AP) - A bare-bellied man whose foul-mouthed taunting of environmental activists was captured on film last summer has been convicted of verbal assault.

Raleigh County Magistrate Richard Jones convicted 24-year-old Adam Pauley of Daniels after a three-hour trial Friday and fined him $100. Pauley also must serve six months of unsupervised probation.

He was acquitted of public intoxication and disorderly conduct.

Pauley was arrested in September over a July 4 incident on Kayford Mountain, where mountaintop removal mining activist Larry Gibson was hosting the Mountain Keepers Music Festival.

A YouTube video shows Pauley shouting expletives and goading people into fighting. At one point, he appears to curse at a child and draw a finger across his throat.

VIDEO - Warning: Foul Language

"If not ME, then WHO?"

2009-07-09T12:09:00.006-04:00

Seems to be a lot of name-calling in the West Virginia hills these days. Like "tree-hugger." I'm not one, but I'm flattered to be called one. And I am NOT an OUTSIDER! I'm drawing the line on this one. My family goes back to General Andrew Lewis and the Pioneer Moses Moore. I was born here. I've lived in West Virginia most of my life. And I choose to stay here!

The events that unfolded at the 4th of July picnic on Kayford Mountain really kicked up this "outsider" thing again. As much as I respect their need to have a job, the coal supporters made it clear that if you're lopping off mountains, mucking up the drinking water and killing people with coal dust then you're a native - you belong here. To the contrary, if you dare stand up against these blatant violations of the earth and people on it - if you stand up against mountaintop removal coal mining - then you're an outsider. Oh! Or you're a hippie. That's a cute one.

The people attending this event were not hippies. Most were people who have lived in coal country all their lives - or they were college students, from Shepherd, WVU and the like - or they were volunteers with Christians for the Mountains and other such groups.. There were librarians, ministers, coal miners, mothers, housewives and children of miners. The people who attend these events and rallies in Appalachia are not vigilantes.

Christians for the Mountains, for example, has opened a house in Ansted, WV, where volunteers come to learn and give of their time helping people in the coal field communities. They help them through hard labor and friendship. They build fences, plow gardens, paint houses - and they pray. They happen to oppose mountaintop removal.

I have visited Able Families in Kermit, WV. They operate a true community center that provides clothing and food for poor families. They hold classes and teach parenting, how to cook meals, how to "construct" a casserole, how to inspire children to get an education and find a job. They too oppose mountaintop removal.

My point is that we are not a bunch of crazed hippie environmentalists. We know what the problems are. And we know from past history that the government has never done what is required to bring stable jobs and healthy, viable communities to those living in the shadows of King Coal.

We're not perfect and we're not aspiring to be martyrs. But we all pick up and do what we can. The common thread that binds us is the belief that there is a better way - a new way - to do things. And we're trying.

The nay-sayers see us as trouble-makers. The politicians view us as a nuisance. We see ourselves as sisters and brothers united for a common cause. We stand with our fellow mountaineers in the coal fields because we know the answer to the question "if not me, then who?"

Mountain Madness

2009-07-06T12:17:00.004-04:00

Mountaintop Removal opponents gathered at Kayford Mountain in West Virginia on the 4th of July for the Mountain Keepers Music Festival. CNN Hero, Larry Gibson, hosted the 23rd annual picnic on land that has been in his family for over 200 years.

Mountaintop Removal coal mining has destroyed all but 50 acres on this site. The coal company wants it all - as do those who work for them. In fact, they not only want the coal but want their opponents to be GONE!

My camera was running when 20 thugs broke over the hill into the picnic shelter on Larry's private property. This video is on YouTube. SHOULD NOT BE VIEWED BY CHILDREN!!! Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gjc7Jg_gMy0

Manchin Defends Mountaintop Removal

2009-05-13T09:46:00.007-04:00

WV Gov. Joe Manchin defending Mountaintop Removal Mining
Eastern Coal Council Conference May 12, 2009 Source

“Now is the time to bring the facts out. If you want to win this war, the economy trumps everything right now and we’ve got a golden opportunity,” Manchin said. “As soon as this economy turns around, I guarantee you the environment will trump us and we’re dead.”

“If I say in West Virginia that we are basically using every bit of disturbed land to enhance the quality of life … how in the world can a person look at me and say that’s not responsible, you can’t do that, you shouldn’t because you’re altering it,” Manchin said.

“I have a piece of land that produces very little taxes if any, it takes 50 years before you can harvest the timber, and I’ve got no tax base for the school system… . How can anybody tell me that’s what’s best for the people of West Virginia?”

Say What? It's bad enough that he uses the economy, but using the tax base for the school system as justification for mountaintop removal is just plain insanity. One thing's certain: he's got more money in his pocket than he has brains in his head.

But wait! There's more...and it'll leave you speechless - just speechless!

Manchin praised coal companies for helping to clear the roads after “horrendous” flooding in the state over the past few days that he said was caused not by extensive strip mining but by “an act of God.”

Obama Seeks to Reverse Mountaintop-Mining Rule

2009-04-27T20:09:00.006-04:00

from The Wall Street Journal Read
By Siobhan Hughes

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration on Monday sought to reverse a last-minute Bush administration rule that made it easier for companies that mine for coal by shearing off mountaintops to dump waste near rivers and streams.

The action is the latest blow to the coal industry, which defends mountaintop mining as a safer, cheaper alternative to traditional underground mining. Coal companies had supported the Bush rule, which permits companies that blow off mountaintops to get at the coal underneath to avoid maintaining a 100-foot buffer zone between nearby waters if it isn't reasonably possible to do so.

At a news conference Monday, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said he had asked the Justice Department to ask a federal court in Washington, D.C., to throw out the rule and send it back to the agency. Mr. Salazar said the rule "simply doesn't pass muster with respect to adequately protecting water quality and stream habitat" in affected communities.

The decision is likely to have the most effect on central Appalachian surface-mining operations, which account for about 10% of U.S. coal production, according to Energy Information Administration data. West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, who received a call on Monday morning from Mr. Salazar, is already trying to gauge the impact on the state's coffers and on future employment.

"The governor shared his concern about the potential effect it could have," said Matt Turner, a spokesman for the governor. "A lot of jobs in West Virginia and throughout Appalachia depend on mining, and certainly our nation depends on coal as an energy source."

The action comes one month after the Environmental Protection Agency under the Obama administration announced that it would scrutinize 150 to 200 mining permits because of concern about waste dumped into rivers and streams. So far, the EPA has asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to revoke at least one previously granted permit, and to ensure more safeguards before signing off on a handful of other permits.

"We've seen a real change in the EPA," Consol Energy Inc. Chief Executive Brett Harvey said in an earnings call last week. "There's a lot of resistance to mountaintop mining.

Congratulations Maria Gunnoe!

2009-04-21T10:40:00.005-04:00

Maria Gunnoe of Bob White, West Virginia, is the 2009 North America recipient of The Goldman Environmental Prize.

Visit the Goldman website to learn about Maria and her fight to end mountaintop removal coal mining in the communities of Appalachia.

Patchwork Films congratulates Maria on this well-deserved award!

(photo: Goldman Environmental Prize)

The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling!

2008-05-19T08:55:00.009-04:00

If there is ever any doubt that West Virginia is being blown off the map, read this!

Blasting Advertisement from the Lincoln Journal (West Virginia) May 15, 2008

Notice is hereby given that Hobet Mining, LLC, P.O. Box 305, Madison, WV 25130, phone (304) 369-6780 intends to conduct blasting activities on the following surface mining permits:

Permit S-5003-96 located at or near Lukey Fork and Connelly Branch of Mud River and Fawn Hollow of Big Ugly Creek of the Guyandotte River, Boone and Lincoln Counties, West Virginia.

Permit S-5011-01 located at or near Mullins Branch of Mud River, Lincoln County, West Virginia.

Permit S-5016-92 located at or near Sugartree Branch and Stanley Fork of Mud River and Boone Block Hollow of Jack Smith Branch and Spruce Lick of Big Horse Creek of Little Coal River, Boone County, West Virginia.

Permit S-5004-04 located at or near Lukey Fork of Mud River and Fawn Hollow of Big Ugly Creek of the Guyandotte River, Boone and Lincoln Counties, West Virginia.

Permit S-5003-06 located at or near Unnamed Tributaries of Berry Branch of/and Mud River.

Permit S-5008-06 located (at or near Berry Branch of Mud River).

Permit S-5003-07 located (at or near Sugartree Branch of Mud River and Jack Smith Branch of Big Horse Creek of the Little Coal River).

Permit S-5002-03 located at or near Berry Branch of Mud River, Lincoln County, West Virginia.

All blasting shall be conducted in accordance with the following schedule of dates and times, unless emergency conditions dictate unscheduled detonation.

Blasting will be conducted between 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. (approximate daylight hours) during May 15, 2008 through May 15, 2009.

Public access to the area prior to blasting will be controlled by personnel employed by the permittee, who will be posted at key positions at least ten (10) minutes before each blasting activity.

The pre-blast audible warning shall sound three (3) minutes prior to blast. A warning signal audible to a range of one-half (1/2) mile from the blast site will be given consisting of three (3) short signals for five (5) seconds duration with five (5) seconds between each signal.

The “ALL CLEAR” signal shall consist of one (1) long warning signal of twenty seconds duration.

No blasting shall be conducted on Sundays.

No Blasting on Sundays - How Nice!

Student Reaction to Mountaintop Removal - One Word at a Time!

2008-03-03T07:56:00.005-05:00

Mary Miller and Pauline Canterberry, better known as "The Sylvester Dustbusters," traveled with me to Kermit, West Virginia on Feb. 24 where we showed "Rise Up! West Virginia" to 27 students from Wheeling Jesuit University. There's nothing like being in a room full of young people to lift you up and keep your head on track!

They crowded onto the floor in the after-school room at the Able Families Center. Mary, Pauline and I sat on pint-sized chairs overlooking the room full of bodies, heads poking out of sleeping bags, toes pointed toward the ceiling.

When the movie ended Sister Janet Peterworth stood up and said, "Let's be still for a few minutes and leave the lights off. Just take all of this in and think about what you are feeling." Their response - one word at a time:

SAD - MAD - ANGRY - SAD - OUTRAGED - SICK - SAD - ASTONISHED - GUILTY - ASHAMED - SELFISH - SELFISH!

INSPIRED! UPLIFTED!

Today I got the following note from one of the students who was there.

I just wanted to thank you for the movie. I was one of the students that had the honor of watching your movie in Kermit, WV. Rise Up! WV is such a powerful movie and it really hit home with me. I live in WV, but I was unaware of the damage that mountaintop removal is causing to this state and other states, for that matter. Thank you so much for enlightening me. It is absolutely shocking how companies can keep disregarding people's lives. When will it be ever enough for the companies? When will they value other's lives instead of money, instead of their own comfort? Thank you for lighting a fire of questions within me.

I also want to thank you for bringing the "Dust Busters" along. It is so much more impactful when there is someone who is living in the thick of the problems to talk to. I really enjoyed listening to them and was appalled that the coal companies and the government would let that continue. Thank you and I thank them for sharing their story.

I would love to learn more about mountaintop removal so if there are any websites, literature, etc, you could direct me to that would be really great. If there is anything that I could do to help please don't hesitate to contact me. Keep Fighting!

Bless you all for caring.
Visit OVEC and Coal River Mountain Watch
Learn and get involved!

West Virginia Says "NO MORE!"

2008-01-19T09:33:00.001-05:00

West Virginia is RISING UP! against King Coal.

West Virginians are RISING UP! against Mountaintop Removal. Our people deserve better than to be sacrificed for this country's electricity!

We say "NO MORE!"

West Virginians are RISING UP! against the poverty brought on by the coal industry! Our people deserve better than to be sacrificed for corporate profits!
We say "NO MORE!"

West Virginians are RISING UP! against corrupt government leaders! Our people deserve better than to be sacrificed for political gain!

We say "NO MORE!" NO MORE!

Coal-to-Liquid means More Mountaintop Removal

2008-01-08T09:21:00.000-05:00

According to Fox News the following Presidential candidates support Coal-to-Liquid Technology:

Obama, Huckabee, Clinton and Romney.

Coal-to-Liquid means more Mountaintop Removal. It requires coal to be converted and coal to power the conversion.

The process doubles the amount of CO2 as opposed to just burning the coal.

John Edwards is THE ONLY candidate that has said NO! to Coal-to-Liquid!

Source: Fox Business News

Faces of Mountaintop Removal

2007-12-12T11:11:00.000-05:00

"This used to be one of the most beautiful places on earth. And now they're destroying it - and it's all for money. I just pray that they stop this mountaintop removal before I have to leave this earth. If they don't stop it there won't be anything left for our young people."

Jim Foster
Bob White, West Virginia

"Everything here is covered in coal dust. They're poisoning our water and our air. All around here is nothing but valley fills and barren land where they've blasted off the mountains. You have to see it to believe it. Our governor should be making them enforce the laws. That's who's failing the people."

Mary Miller
Sylvester, West Virginia

"Our representatives in Washington should be speaking up for us. They know what's happening here, they're not blind. They're part of what's going on. We're being discriminated against. What else do you call it? I own my home but I can't protect my home. What has West Virginia become?"

Pauline Canterberry
Sylvester, West Virginia

"After I quit the mining company I kept thinking about all the shortcuts we took building these sludge dams. I never knew that I was setting up something that could kill these kids and these community members. I made a commitment to do whatever it takes to get them kids out of that school. I don't care who gets mad or how many friends I lose. I don't care. Our kids are special. And they deserve a chance."

Ed Wiley
Rock Creek, West Virginia

These are just a few of our West Virginia people who are suffering from the effects of mountaintop removal. They tell their stories in our new film "Rise Up! West Virginia."

Move It On Over West Virginia, Cause the Big Dog's Movin In!

2007-11-12T08:02:00.000-05:00

The "Big Dogs" from Charlottesville, Virginia, have moved in with full force over at Ansted, WV. MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL! They are going to blow us off of the map!

Amvest Corporation owns the Powellton Coal Company which owns 18,000 acres of land around this tiny Fayette County community. I figure it took decades to grab that much land from fledgling farmers and property owners. (11/13/07 update: we hear that Amvest has sold its West Virginia holdings to Consol Energy)

I went there on Sat. for the "Blessing of the Mountains." The clergy, historic preservation folks, and the local people held a very moving service to bid farewell to this ancient landscape. We all cried.

Afterward, a friendly Vietnam veteran, Joe Frantz, drove me up the mountain to get some shots. It was one of those typical foggy Appalachian mornings so we both had a bit of trouble capturing the carnage on film. (See more of his photos)

All of us here in West Virginia are familiar with the historic photos of deforestation and denuded landscape. But 100 years ago the "big railroad barons" were pulling the trees out for timber dollars. Now the same big Virginia barons are going after the COAL! It's the life-line of the railroad.

I can't even guess how many acres we looked at where the trees were just shoved over with the big bulldozers. Pushed into the valley below - practically on top of the little community of Jodie. The pending size of the valley fill alone makes you shake in your boots.

I saw no sign of logging so I doubt that any of the timber has gone to market. That takes too much time. Wall Street pays no attention to time. Just get the coal out of there - load it up and haul it out - and all the investors get rich.

What the local community gets is NOTHING! I'm bewildered at the reality that some Americans are willing to go along with this "ethnic cleansing" in order to make a buck!

Adding insult to injury, West Virginia University had a group of students in Ansted over the weekend. Doing a study on "tourism" in the area. Give me break! Tourism just died!

We've gone to the dogs - the BIG DOGS!

Please - if you haven't done so - call your representative in Congress and urge them to co-sponsor the Clean Water Act. (Go here for info). And write a letter opposing the Buffer Zone Rule Change.

Visit I Love Mountains to take action - with your help we might have a fighting chance! THANK YOU!

Stop Mountaintop Removal on the Midland Trail

2007-10-27T07:36:00.001-04:00

If you've traveled the Midland Trail through West Virginia then you've probably driven through Ansted, which is pictured here. Take a look at the mountain in front of you. It will soon be gone. Why? MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL!

U.S. Rt. 60 (the old Roosevelt Trail) curves left and passes by Hawk's Nest State Park. Directly across from its entrance is another mountain - soon to be leveled by MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL!

This is the view from the overlook at the park's lodge. The famous New River - one of the oldest in the country - is home to West Virginia's white-water rafting industry. It is spanned by the New River Gorge Bridge - highest vehicular bridge in the Americas - second highest in the world.

The Midland Trail is part of the American Scenic Byways Program. Its 180 miles carries tourists along one of the oldest and most historic sections of America. It boasts "The Best of West Virginia" as it promotes our top industry - TOURISM!

Traveling east from Ansted one enters Greenbrier County and shortly before coming to the historic town of Lewisburg you will pass through Rupert. Home to a new MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL permit between Anjean and Trout. What was once a beautiful drive - will be no more!

The situation on the Midland Trail right now is this: coal trucks; log trucks; "Friends of Coal" license plates; Massey's trucks; a coal-fired co-generation project; drug busts at the mines; "Miners Needed" signs; and worst of all, our young people being pressured to work in the mines instead of going to college.

Now I want to know - what does all of this have to do with promoting tourism in West Virginia? Where is the Midland Trail Association in all of this? Where is the state division of Tourism? Where is the Governor? The Legislature? The local leaders? And our Senators, Congressmen? Bought off by KING COAL????????

MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL is going to destroy tourism on the Midland Trail, just as it has destroyed town after town, stream after stream, and family after family across Central Appalachia.

West Virginia has been good to this country! We have supplied coal to help build America and keep the lights on for over 100 years! Enough is enough! We're being annihilated here and we need help!

Support the Clean Water Act - fight the Buffer Zone Rule Change - and don't vote for anyone who will not take a stand against this social and environmental injustice!

Please contact The Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition or Coal River Mountain Watch. They have resources to help you get involved, speak out and put an end to this madness! Churches and people of faith can contact Christians for the Mountains.

Mountaintop Removal - FLAT Lies!

2007-10-09T19:44:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I hear banter from the coal industry and the politicians that makes me want to spit! The one that's wearing me out these days is "we need flat land - reclaimed mountaintop removal sites provide that."

Give me a break! Every time I drive these Appalachian roads I see flat land all over the place. Odd - there's not a thing built on it. Seems to me you'd need flat land if you didn't have any available.

Over in Boone County, West Virginia, they want to build a new hospital - cost would be $2 million. The county owns a piece of land next to the existing hospital. And where do you think the County Commission considered putting that hospital? Right! On a reclaimed mountaintop removal site.

They would have needed to build a four-lane bridge to get to it at the cost of $10 million. I'll repeat that. The bridge alone would cost TEN MILLION DOLLARS! Tax-payer money. No coal company money. I hate to see how much it would cost for water, sewer, electric and other infrastructure. Pretty lofty idea for a county whose property assessments are hitting rock bottom because of the dastardly coal companies.

It's a sad state of affairs when the county government gets in bed with the barons. Even worse when the taxpayers to pay for the coal industry's "public relations." Time to start spitting!

Appalachia - My Journey to Understanding

2007-09-12T05:26:00.001-04:00

Filmmakers sometimes use their work for self-exploration, just as writers and poets do. In that process we often find that we don't know what we thought we knew. My ongoing journey through the West Virginia coalfields proves that!

On each trip I listen to Muriel Dressler's "Appalachia."
It haunts me every time I hear it.

I am Appalachia.
In my veins runs fierce mountain pride;
The hill-fed streams of passion.
And stranger, you don't know me.
You've analyzed my every move.
You still go away shaking your head.
I remain enigmatic.

It's not easy to understand the strong hold that COAL has on this place where I live.This place that was overtaken in the 1800's by the railroads, the coal barons, the timber companies and the land grabbers. This place where coal miner's children languished in deep poverty while the coal company children lived high on the hill in the lap of luxury.

This place that seems not to have changed much in over 100 years.
This place - Appalachia - remains enigmatic.

Over the past year I have interviewed many new friends. I have learned about life in the coalfields through conversations over their kitchen tables. I have witnessed the shocking impact of the coal industry through my camera's lens.

I have stared into the mouth of a deep mine and cried when I surveyed over 7,000 acres of once-pristine forest land destroyed by mountaintop removal. I feel shock, dismay and utter disgust every time I see a valley fill or watch my friends wipe coal dust off of their belongings.I jump when I hear the blast that blows off a mountaintop and I freeze when I meet a caravan of coal trucks on our winding mountain roads.

Worst of all is the feeling of deep sadness and guilt when I walk and talk with the people on the streets of War and Welch and Kimball and all of the other towns in southern West Virginia. It is here that King Coal sucked the life out of the hollows before they packed up and left - just as they will do tomorrow and the day after and the day after. Towns that have been abandoned by their government. People that have been forgotten by their State. A culture that even I, a true Appalachian, have failed to understand.

I am Appalachia!
And stranger, though you've studied me
You still don't know.

Muriel Dressler understood what it meant to be Appalachia.
I am still learning.

John Edwards and Mountaintop Removal

2007-09-03T15:05:00.000-04:00

Today the United Mine Workers of America threw their endorsement to Presidential Candidate John Edwards. (New York Times Blog)

I couldn't be happier. I've been an Edwards supporter from the get-go. It's hard not to be when you grew up in a small working-class town in West Virginia.

All of us who are battling against Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining in Appalachia and beyond remember that in 1999 Edwards sided with Byrd on a critical mining issue. After eight years of looking at the issue he, like many of us, has evolved.

John Edwards voted five times against drilling in the Arctic. He supported a standard that would require 10% of America's electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020. He rebuked the Bush administration for pulling out of the Kyoto Treaty and supported a cap-and-trade system to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. In addition, he supported the "roadless rule," and opposed Bush's Healthy Forest plan and the efforts to weaken the Clean Water Act. And in 2003 he led the fight against Clean Air Act rollbacks in the Senate.

The UMWA's local leaders here in West Virginia have been pretty vocal about opposition to Mountaintop Removal. Every time a Federal Judge tells the coal industry that they have to follow the law the Union "locals" react with that tired old barb that the "environmentalists" are trying to shut down the coal industry. Whether or not there is any truth to that claim is beside the point. After all, the Union's job is to protect jobs!

Back in 2003 the United Mine Workers of America released an official statement expressing their belief that protection of our environment is essential. It said that they support strong regulatory protection of water resources and that families should be protected against blasting debris and degradation of their communities. Bravo! Not every union member or local leader is going to be committed to that belief. It is their right to disagree with us and with the Union. But they most likely agree with the endorsement of John Edwards. Because he IS the working man's candidate!

It might all seem a little bit ironic that coal miners support him. John Edwards has been heard saying NO to Mountaintop Removal. He firmly stated in a 2007 debate that he is against Coal-To-Liquid. He is taking on Big Coal. And he is not taking their big money!

But maybe there is no irony at all. John Edwards supports workers.

By jingo! he gets it! "Big Coal" is short for big machines and a smaller work force.

We Shall Rise Against King Coal

2007-08-26T11:41:00.000-04:00

George Bush has put the rubber stamp on Mountaintop Removal. Now the coal industry feels obliged to insult our intelligence with all of their "good for the economy" propoganda! Spare me! I don't know how much more "prosperity" West Virginia can stand from the coal companies!

On that resurrection morning
When the trumpet call shall sound
We shall rise - Hallelujah!
We shall rise.

And the saints shall come rejoicing
And no tear shall e'er be found
We shall rise - Hallelujah!
We shall rise.

We shall rise - Hallelujah
We shall rise - Amen!
We shall rise
On that resurrection morning
When the prison bars have opened
We shall rise!
WE SHALL RISE!

Listen to WE SHALL RISE!

Please read the Office of Surface Mining Rule Change and send in your comments. West Virginia's land area already destroyed - I said DESTROYED! - is equivalent to losing ONE ENTIRE COUNTY! Help Stop Mountaintop Removal before King Coal plunders it all! Tell Washington that West Virginia is NOT OPEN for this kind of business! Write your letter TODAY!

And if you can - please attend the DEP Public Hearing at Hawk's Nest State Park in Ansted, WV, on Friday, August 31 at 6:00 pm. They will grant permits for 2 Mountaintop Removal operations overlooking the park. This will be the kiss of death for the tourism industry on that section of The Midland Trail (US Route 60). Let them know that you do not approve!

Coal - Mountaintop Removel - and the Line in the Sand

2007-08-23T08:28:00.000-04:00

Out in Utah we have 9 dead - 6 of them about to be entombed in Bob Murray's "evil mountain." The editor of the Emory County Progress made a jab at the media for looking like "environmentalists" and wrote: "I think of these environmentalist types and know they don't have a clue about coal mining. Probably 99 percent of them have never been in a coal mine, but they all reap the benefits of those who mine coal. Every time you flip on a light switch chances are that electricity came from a coal fired power plant." Read her Editorial

Here’s a news flash for Ms. Stoddard: West Virginians know coal mining! We have the disasters and the blisters to prove it! Many of us have been in a coal mine and we do think about the impact and the comfort of flipping on that light switch. But people that care about this earth and the life it supports don't deserve to be knocked around anymore than the coal miners deserve it. You will not hear a West Virginian showing disrespect for a coal miner!

Maybe some in the coal mining community are living on a different planet than the rest of us. I’m offended that someone would actually say that we don’t know where our danged electricity comes from. WE all know - and WE know the price that WE have to pay for it!

In West Virginia we are paying the ultimate price! Mountaintop Removal is leveling our mountains, mucking up our drinking water, tearing up our roads, threatening our safety, driving away our young people, destroying our tourism industry - essentially bleeding many of our communities dry. And someone out there actually thinks WE don't know coal mining! Now comes news that the President wants to expand this dastardly process! (New York Times)

The WV Coal Assn. says that Boone County, WV, has the state's most coal and the largest number of high paying coal jobs. But last month’s unemployment rate almost went through the roof! Our leaders, and I use that term lightly – the governor, the legislature, and our representatives in Congress – have abandoned West Virginia. Why? They want the coal industry to make money - and lots of it! And as I write Gov. Manchin is packing off to China to sell coal mining equipment.

They will cater to and defend this ruthless industry to no end. They will point out the sacrifices made by miners, their families, the coal barons and the "yes men." They will not talk about retiring Richard Stickler from MSHA. Nor will they talk about renewable energy. And they will be hard pressed to talk about conservation as that will reduce instant profits and campaign contributions.

Here's where we draw the line in the sand. THEY will waste valuable time on plans to power this country, but the methods will be those that bring in fast cash. They will use phrases like "clean coal technology," "carbon capture" and my personal favorite, "national security."

On the other hand, WE, the "environmentalists," the real stewards, will be the ones fighting against Mountaintop Removal. WE will be the voice for renewable energy, clean water, clean air and stable jobs in healthy communities. WE will RISE UP! for the future of our young people rather than just promising them a job in the coal mines.

The next time we head to the voting booth we will think about what got us into this terrible, terrible mess! And we will be prepared to make smarter choices. Given the present "state" of affairs it might be better to have no leadership than to be held hostage by what we have now!

(MTR photos: Vivian Stockman, OVEC)

For Tomorrow You May Be in Utah!

2007-08-18T12:45:00.000-04:00

I wonder if there are other parents in West Virginia who woke up this morning as I did - with a heavy heart. For the first time in 18 years my son’s shoes are not in the middle of the floor. We’ve sent him off to college, and we are so proud. So why the heavy heart?

Unlike those of us paddling back down the highway yesterday – hardly able to wait for the dirty laundry that our kids will bring home in 2 weeks - mothers and fathers, wives and children, brothers and sisters in Utah may wait forever.

Utah! Where – faces we do not recognize – are wrought with pain at the loss of those who they will never see again. We, as a people, now find ourselves staring down the ugly throat of a pile of questions too big to wrap our arms around. Why do we continue to send our people into one of the most dangerous jobs on the planet? Why are we so reluctant to stop living on the backs of miners and using so much electricity? And why are we so afraid to SAY NO TO COAL?

Why do we continue to tolerate big politics and big money when it comes to the safety of our fellow workers? How long are we going to believe the Richard Sticklers and the Robert Murrays and everyone else who is reaping the benefit off of our dead? What keeps us, as a people, from putting an end to this madness?

I have not doubt that Richard Stickler (MSHA) and Robert Murray (Murray Energy) feel downright terrible today. And they should. If you watch your TV closely you will see the tipples in action. Murray is selling every ounce of coal the rescuers have been pulling out of that mine since the day it collapsed. They launched a profitable extraction of coal, under the disguise of a rescue mission at a so-called closed mine, and put even more lives in danger to search for 6 innocent men that should never have been sent into this ready-to-collapse coal mine in the first place. Early in the disaster, when there was still time to save lives, they turned a deaf ear to offers of help from the United Mine Workers and chose instead to make “hit and miss” decisions that only made a horrible situation worse. And more bad news is, no doubt, yet to come.

The government will defend them. The elected officials will continue to be wined and dined by the Murrays. And we, never to be called innocent again, will continue to leave on the lights, fill up our gas tanks and run right out to buy that new energy hogging plasma TV screen. In the meantime, pseudo-investigations will be launched, rule changes will be proposed, and the only answer that will be printed in West Virginia and Utah is “America needs the energy…it’s a matter of national security…it means jobs, jobs, jobs … blahblahblah.” The worst is yet to come. I expect soon we will hear a clarion call for more Mountain Top Removal – better to have three people setting off dynamite and running giant extraction machines than three hundred working under ground.

Stop. Let us spend this day mourning the senseless loss of those loved ones in Utah – those faces that we don’t recognize. For it is through their sacrifice that we may hopefully find the courage to look for answers in our quest to feed our need for energy. And we must do this, if we are to know with certainty that they did not die in vain.

Vermonter Rising Up for West Virginia

2007-08-12T10:45:00.000-04:00

If West Virginians need courage and support to Rise Up against Mountaintop Removal it might help to know that there are people all over the country that are standing up for us. The following "Letter to the Editor" appeared today in Vermont's Burlington Free Press. "Open Doors Waste Energy." The letter writer gets it!

Coal-to-Liquid: Will We Come Tumbling Down?

2007-08-10T11:43:00.001-04:00

U.S. Rep. Nick Joe Rahall (D-WV) is ganging up with the coal barons and the U. S. Air Force next week when he hosts the National Coal-to-Liquids Conference at Glade Springs Resort near Beckley, WV. Here’s what he said at the US Air Force Energy Summit:

“Few, if any, issues are of greater consequence to war and peace, and to our economic stability and domestic security than the availability of a sufficient supply of reasonably priced energy. There are many possibilities out there but they do not solve our military’s great and pressing energy challenges. From a practical standpoint it is abundantly evident that the answer lies in coal, America’s most promising fuel of the future.” Now that's a mouthful.

Readers might want to check out the perspective in the August 2007 issue of Scientific American: Worse Than Gasoline: Liquid Coal would produce roughly twice the global warming emissions of gasoline!

First off, linking coal-to-liquid with national security is an insult to the intelligence of the average American. Secondly, to call coal the most promising fuel of the future dismisses with the fact that it is the dirtiest fuel on the planet. Thirdly – read this more than once – beefing up CTL technology to fuel those planes will result in a government-sanctioned military assault on the mountains of West Virginia. When these big boys get hunkered down in those plush digs next week and rev up their collective engines we’re going to be looking at Mountaintop Removal on a whole new scale!

If Congressman Rahall and his cronies pull off using taxpayer dollars to fund this boondoggle they'll replace our nation's coal miners with machines faster than you can shake a stick! We might be looking at a mountaineer version of The Battle of Jericho, because the West Virginia Hills are going to come tumbling down!

Mine Reclamation is a Boondoggle!

2007-08-04T13:03:00.000-04:00

In 1977, President Carter signed the "Surface Mine Control and Reclamation Act" to regulate surface mine sites and provide for the reclamation of mined lands. 30 years later, West Virginia is still plagued by bulldozers, blasting, destruction, abandonment. The Office of Surface Mining does little to enforce the law

The coal companies say they are: Returning the land to better-than-before conditions and creating flat land for economic development. Businesses will relocate to these mine sites that are home to lush green hard-wood forests where wildlife roam and flourish.

Here's what they don't say: Very few mountaintop removal sites in WV have been reclaimed. Plant life is replaced with non-native vegetation. The top soil is gone - plants struggle to take hold. There are no public roads -no infrastructure - no water - no sewer. And even if the sites were to be properly reclaimed (which we all know is nearly impossible after they've blown it to bits) - the State of West Virginia, by its own admission, lacks funding to build roads. The state is at a loss to come up with a plan for repairing and maintaining existing roads.

Now if this isn't a boondoggle I don't know what is!

"Temporary Disruption" in Boone County

2007-08-01T10:37:00.000-04:00

Look closely at these two photos. Both were taken from Jim Foster's back yard in Bob White, West Virginia. Last week I stood in the yard with Jim and his neighbor Maria Gunnoe. She lives at the base of the mountain. Jim said that the coal company would put off a blast at 4:00. Sure enough, at 4:04 - KABOOM!

Flashback: Brenda Breslauer, reporting for Bill Moyers' "Now" in August 2006, interviewed WV Coal Association president, Bill Raney, about the impact of Mountaintop Removal.

Raney said, "Does it harm it? No, we don't think it does. Temporary disruptions, yes, you do have that."

Fast Forward: Look at these two photos again. No Harm? Temporary Disruption? Tell Jim Foster that. Tell Maria Gunnoe that. Tell the people of West Virginia that! Bill Raney and the plutocrats seem to think that we just fell off the turnip truck. He says, "We feel like the impact is absolutely minimized." WHAT? He says, "We make every attempt to prevent any kind of negative impact."

Here's their Prevention Plan! They blew off the mountain - shoved it down over the hill where it buried part of the stream. Then the rains came and the floodwater pounded through Maria Gunnoe's yard and parted it like the Red Sea. It wiped out everything except her house. The barn is gone - the stream's path was rerouted - her well is worthless - she can't drive across the access bridge to her house - and the coal company refuses to take responsibility.

From where I sit that all sounds like NEGATIVE IMPACT! I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would line up behind Bill Raney and his assessment of the impact of Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining! Oh, except for the plutocrats!

Coal Encroaches on "STATE ANIMAL" - Where's the DNR?

2007-07-27T12:35:00.000-04:00

Flashback: On March 23, 1973, the West Virginia Legislature adopted Concurrent Resolution No. 6 designating an official state animal. Here's what it said:

WHEREAS, In a poll of students, teachers and sportsmen conducted by the Dept. of Natural Resources in 1954-55, the black bear was chosen for the official state animal; WHEREAS, The black bear is the only species of bear found in the State of West Virginia; WHEREAS, The black bear typifies the spirit of all West Virginians in their ability to survive in spite of the adversity of people and industry encroaching upon their natural habitat; Therefore, be it Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia that the black bear is designated the official state animal.

Fast Forward: Today news comes that the black bears along with their cubs are being bulldozed under on mountaintop removal sites. Cubs with their eyes not yet open - mother bear brawling as she sees her babies scooped up - living creatures, gifts from God, shoved over a mountainside as if they were discarded soup bones. (Visit Aurora Lights to Watch the Video.) Where is the DNR now - 50 years later?

I remember a time when life meant something in West Virginia. I also remember a time when our elected leaders had a great deal of moral fiber. No more!

Update: Leave Wildlife Alone, DNR Urges "The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources reminds people to “leave young wildlife alone"...do your part to ensure the survival of young wildlife by remembering the motto — “look, but do not touch or disturb.” Fayette Tribune - June 25, 007

Rest In Peace - Courtesy of the WV D.E.P.

2007-07-24T21:41:00.000-04:00

My friend, Larry Gibson, lives on Kayford Mountain – 35 miles from West Virginia’s State Capital in Charleston. I had the privilege of accompanying Larry on a tour with Kathy Mattea to view the Catenery Coal Company’s mountaintop removal operation there 2 weeks ago. One of things we talked about was the coal industry’s lack of regard and respect for the family cemeteries that are located on coal company property. Larry’s comment was, “If they don’t have any respect for dead how can we expect them to care for the living?”

What most people don’t know is that these resting grounds are sliding off the hillsides. Graves are sinking, and in fact, some of the remains that were interred there have now slipped into the bowels of the earth. Access to these family resting places is limited, if granted at all, to immediate family members – a notion that I find revolting.

Flashback: I attended a public hearing in the Pocahontas County courthouse a few years ago where the DEP was taking testimony relating to a permit for a sandstone quarry on Brown’s Mountain. Everything seemed to be going in favor of the big absentee landowner until a very eloquent sweet lady stepped up and mentioned the three family cemeteries located on the property. Well, that was in the days of Matt Crum at the DEP, and he nearly fell off his seat. Seems that the burial grounds weren’t on the map. Next morning Matt Crum had a helicopter fly him over the property. He walked the property. Guess what? 3 cemeteries, just like the lady said. Guess what? Permit denied! They appealed. Denied! Matt Crum lost his job. Brown’s Mountain is still sitting there – pretty as you please – native trout still swimming in Knapps Creek - no blasting, no trucks, no intruders. Rest in Peace! Of course they still own the land, but up until now – NO PERMIT!

Fast forward – to Kayford. DEP is now under the thumb of Stephanie Timmermeyer. If memory serves correct she use to work for one of the coal company law firms. DEP says the coal company is following the law. What? You have people buried on a little pinhead on the side of blown off mountain. You have to drive through the blasting zone to get to it – on roads built for trucks that could haul my house! And they say they’re following the law. All I can say is THE LAW HAS GONE MAD!

Vivian Stockman, our wonderful photographer friend with OVEC, took these pictures of the Stover Cemetery on Kayford Mountain just a week after I had been there. Please visit their website to read her description of these and other photos she took from the air. Vivian reminds us of Mother Jones when she said, “Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living.”

Working to End Mountaintop Removal in West Virginia!

2007-07-23T17:02:00.001-04:00

WELCOME to "Rise Up! West Virginia."

My beautiful State of West Virginia is under attack! Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining is destroying one of the most beautiful places on earth!

Coal companies use the excuse that they are responsible for supplying energy to the country. State government uses the excuse that our people need jobs. Our governor uses the excuse that we must do this in the interest of national security. Coal miners use the excuse that they have to feed their families. And local governments use the excuse that they need the coal severence tax revenues.

But what about the people living in the shadows of the big shovels? Theirs are the voices that would be silenced - if only those in control could find a "good excuse."

Patchwork Films will release "Rise Up West Virginia" in the fall of 2007. Our goal is to rally the citizens of West Virginia and all of our friends to stand up and fight back against the destruction of our state. West Virginia will no longer be the "sacrifice zone" for the nation's energy needs!

Check back here often for news, updates and important information.
(Photo: Vivian Stockman - OVEC)