UPDATE – Photo from the trees:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JANUARY 21, 2010
Contact: Kim Ellis – 304 854 7372
Email: news@climategroundzero.org
Note: www.climategroundzero.org and www.mountainjustice.org
“Coal River Mountain was the last mountain around here that hasn’t been touched and they could’ve been using it for windmills…But Massey wants to get that coal. It seems like they just don’t care about the populace. Just the land and their checkbook.”
– Richard Bradford
MARFORK, W.Va. – Protestors associated with Climate Ground Zero and Mountain Justice halted blasting on Coal River Mountain today with a three-person tree-sit. David Aaron Smith, 23, Amber Nitchman, 19 and Eric Blevins, 28 are on platforms approximately 60 feet up two tulip poplar trees and one oak tree. They are located next to where Massey Energy is blasting to build an access road to the Brushy Fork Impoundment on its Bee Tree Strip Mine. Their banners state: “Save Coal River Mtn.,” “EPA Stop the Blasting” and “Windmills Not Toxic Spills.”
“Massey Energy is a criminal corporation with over 4,500 documented violations of the Clean Water Act, yet the government has given them permission to blast next to a dam full of toxic coal waste that will kill 998 people if it fails.” said Blevins. This action comes at the heels of a rigorously peer-reviewed study published in Science Magazine which states “Mining permits are being issued despite the preponderance of scientific evidence that impacts are pervasive and irreversible and that mitigation cannot compensate for the losses.”
The sitters are calling for the EPA to put an end to mountaintop removal and encourage the land-holding companies to develop clean energy production. The lack of EPA enforcement in mountaintop removal encouraged Josh Graupera, 19, member of the support team, to take part in this action “I knew that until I took an active role in the struggle to end MTR, I was passively condoning the poisoning and displacement of countless communities and in the obliteration of one of the oldest and most diverse ecosystems on this continent.” Graupera said. Nitchman added, “I act out of personal concern for the safety of water from toxic sludge, air from smog, and mountains from annihilation.”
The Brushy Fork Impoundment is permitted to contain over nine billion gallons of the toxic coal waste, and currently contains 8.2 billion gallons. Brushy Fork’s foundation is built on a honeycomb of abandoned underground mines. If the foundation were to collapse the slurry would blow out from all sides of the mountain. According to Marfork Coal Co.’s emergency warning plan regarding the impoundment, in case of a frontal dam breach, a 40 ft wall of sludge, 72 ft at its peak height, would engulf communities as far as 14 miles away.
“Brushy Fork sludge dam places the downstream communities in imminent danger. The threat of being inundated by a wall of toxic sludge is always present. Blasting next to this dam increases the risk as well as destroying the opportunity for renewable wind energy,” said Coal River Mountain Watch’s Vernon Haltom. According to the Coal River Wind Project, the wind energy produced by a turbine farm on Coal River Mountain could power 70,000 homes, provide more permanent jobs for local residents and annually bring over a million more dollars in tax breaks revenue to Raleigh County than coal currently does.
The sitters plan to remain in the trees as long as it takes to stop blasting on Coal River Mountain. Climate Ground Zero’s action campaign, begun in February of last year, has kept up a sustained series of direct actions since that time continuing decades-long resistance to strip mining in Appalachia.
May God bless the hearts of those brave young folks. May they stay safe. I am so proud of all of you. The wife says, “Keep up the good work.”
God bless you all – be safe!
Maybe with a good supply of tampons , or at least better time planing this sit will fair better than the last lol.
Thank you, Eric, Amber, and David! Please know that you are supported and you are in the thoughts of many. Stand strong and be safe!
Wow! Just when I thought things could not get better than the election of Scott Brown, the consequent death of healthcare reform and the pending defeat of Cap and Trade, they do! The Supreme Court has overturned the McCain/Feingold statute restricting corporate spending on matters of political speech. This means that the coal companies can spend mountains of money in support of –or in opposition to– any candidate for public office at any time, without the time or financial limits imposed by McCain/Feingold. Ironically, Obama has turned out to be the best thing to happen to the country since George Patton. Makes me want to go out and hug a tree!
Jeff Fidget ran off to do medic relief work in Haiti (with these guys: http://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/) a few days ago, but I just got a message from him telling me to tell y’all good luck!
Love this campaign, love these activists, love those mountains.
Love,
Kylala
kudos to amber, eric, and david! will be following this and am grateful for couragous people that are taking direct action…
News story…… Three people that don’t work want to stop others that do. Oh boy, here we go again. 3 people that are breaking the law and will be arrested will whine for the next few days about no sleep, noise, lights and so on yet have no one to blame but themselfs for climbing in the tree to start with. They will try to make all feel sorry for them and try to convince you that they are acting to protect us. They will ask you for money to pay for the legal cost. I was thinking just this morning how I wish some one would take away my job cause my family just don’t need me to provide for them. My family would be much better off with an unempkloyment check. Please take my job and let these people be much smarter than me cause I can’t think for myself. Hogwash. They should be spanked with a switch for being spoiled brats. We all grew with with spoiled brats. They never did any wrong and mommy and daddy ( in this case Paypal ) would yake care of it.
Coal is Great -
Thanks! You’ve given us an example of an ad hominem argument, also known as argumentum ad hominem (Latin: “argument toward the person” or “argument against the person”). This is an argument which links the validity of a premise to an irrelevant characteristic or belief of the person advocating the premise. In other words, it is an argument which attacks the individual rather than the argument that individual is presenting.
Your use of the ad-hominem argument amounts to a logical fallacy.
For example -
Citizen in tree opposes destruction of mountains.
However, citizen in tree is (presumed to be) unemployed.
Therefore, opposition to destruction of mountains is irrelevant
An ad hominem argument has the basic form:
Person 1 makes claim X
There is something objectionable about Person 1
Therefore claim X is false
The first premise is called a ‘factual claim’. The contention is referred to as an ‘inferential claim’ and represents the reasoning process. There are two types of inferential claim, explicit and implicit. The fallacy does not represent a valid form of reasoning because even if you accept both co-premises, that does not guarantee the truthfulness of the contention.
Wish i was there! Stay safe! Thank you Thank you Thank you for defending this land!!!!!
I was thinking just this morning how I wish someone would come and blast away my mountains ’cause my state just don’t need them to provide our water. All of us would be better off without water or jobs or health. Please ruin my state and let these coal companies be smarter than West Virginians ’cause we can’t speak for ourselves.
Coal-wash!
These coal companies and their henchmen should be spanked, or switched for spoiling the whole region. We all grew up with greedy capitalists and self-interested people who will do anything for a buck. Their mommies and daddies never taught them to care.
Go find a real job and take a bath. I would say if you don’t like coal turn your electricity off but you probably can’t even afford it.
Time to get out the chain saws.
Real American Heroes. Keep up the good work.
…and we said it would happen again!! we WON’T STOP until the blasting does! Rock on sitters and support, im so proud of you folks!! my heart goes out to the folks in the trees, the support that’s now in jail, all the lovely people in this community, and the miners who don’t realize how badly they are being used and abused by the coal industry, and of course the beautiful mountains of this state that will be saved from destruction!
I tell you, this site is a scream. If you can stomach it, have a look at the philosophy 101 instructor’s comments above. What a hoot! I can see this guy now. He is half in the bag, it’s pushing 1 a.m. and he sees an opportunity to dazzle the world (or at least himself) with a pearl or two of classical know-how. So what does he do? Why he goes to Wikpedia and lifts–verbatim–the description of ad hominem he finds there! Hey bud, the next time you lift something, at least reference the source for proper credit. At least Coal is Great had something original and his own to offer.
Let’s all take a moment to thank the uneducated and morally questionable of the world for their contributions to this conversation. Thank you to those who are supporting the activists. To those against them, please take your negativity elsewhere and use that energy to stand up for whatever the hell it is that you believe in.
you people are nasty! shut up and go home, no body wants you here nobody likes you you stink…and i hope you fall! ha ha ha well, you know that sound you hear? beep, ha ha my dad did that! how does that steady horn blast sound? ha ha ha by the way that sound you heard at about 4:15 this evening was a production shot going off. we will keep working. so keep sitting we don’t give a shit!
if you wanna clean up the world start in your own back yard! get out of ours!!
Well you have just pointed out an error….to yourselves. The info that Mike, Judy, Antrim, Charles, Bo, and Lorelei most likely quizzed Bobby on, and that he accused at the debate was 11,000 clean water act violations. This story states 4,000, so which is it? The facts are not here people, they can’t quit. Tyler, it may be negativity, but as I said before, were all big boys and girls, we will get over it. By the way do some research, MTR coal to UG coal, which I am a proponate of BOTH! I mean seriously educate yourselves what slurry means and how it comes about. Kind of relate it to trees and and how plywood comes about. You can do it. Last week for another climb….bye bye 8050 you will be missed ole girl.
So, if you all stopped the blasting, why did they shoot a couple of times on the 22nd??? You fuckers need to find EMPLOYMENT and help the rest of us save the US from bankruptcy! And getting the police involved is just wasting taxpayers money. I REALLY wish they would let us handle it!
In the mountains….. thank you for more useless information. Your leaders have taught you well on how to write so much that means so little. Kennedy Jr will be proud. Three people in a tree…. oh I get it. People in a tree is a tie to EVOLUTION. They want to convince us that we came from monkeys.
Dear dear General, please grab a leash, we have found your monkeys. The circus is clearly back in town. I read your post and all I can say is….. please wash!
Not everyone works directly in the coal industry, but just about all industry supports coal or is supported by coal in the state of WV. This State provides energy to the United States and many parts of the world. WE THE PEOPLE should not allow a few non West Virginians to come here and TRY to tell us that we, our parents, and our grandparents are wrong to mine coal. All of the great States in this country provide something to the rest of the country. Some provide fruit, others corn, etc. West Virginia provides coal. Very simple fact.
how is security harassing them? by keeping an eye on them in case they come down or god forbid fall?
dont put a spin on that news thats Fox news job, have fun freezing in those trees because we are haveing fun watching you.
Thank you guard for your efforts and stay warm. I hope the fines go up.
HOPEFULLY, a freak forest fire will come through. I know that we’ve had alot of rain lately, but a forest fire would be funny as hell!
TO ALL TREEHUGGERS: GO BACK TO YOUR OWN STATE, LEAVE US ALONE AND LET US WORK TO PROVIDE FOR OUR FAMILIES!!!
I’m so grateful to you Eric, Amber, and David for sacrificing your own warmth, movement, and safety to save this mountain. Stay strong.
I think that instead of having younger kids coming in from out of state to do the dirty work for Judy Bonds and her Little crew down at the CRMW she and her crew should have the balls to get up in those Tree’s…….I mean Judy says she strongly stand up for what she believes but do you see her in a Tree ……….LOL No JGTFO…
IT’S SAD THAT SOME ONE WOULD TIE THEM SELF TO A TREE IN THE DEAD OF WINTER TO PROVE A POINT.
BUT TO EACH THEIR OWN. BUT COAL IS THE WAY OF THE COUNTRY AND GOD PUT IT HERE FOR A REASON . JUST LIKE HE PUT EVERY THING HERE FOR A REASON. WOOD TO BUILD HOMES . Docters TO CURE OUR ILLNESS, WATER TO DRINK AND FRUIT AND MEAT TO EAT. IF WE TRIED TO STOP CROP GROWING, HUNTING , FISHING, AND TREE CUTTING , AND COAL MINING, WE WOULD HAVE NO HEAT, POWER PLANTS WOULD HAVE TO CLOSE , AND MANY JOBS LOST,NOT ONLY IN THE COAL FIELDS BUT ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, NO FOOD, AND NOTHING TO DRINK. LETS LOOK AT THE
BIG PICTURE , AND NOT JUST A TREE. A TREE CAN BE RE PLANTED. AND ANOTHER THING I HAVE LIVED HERE ALL MY LIFE AND SEE THESE YOUNG KIDS COME AND. (CRMW) GETS THEM TO COME IN HERE AND DO THE THINGS THEY CANT DO WITH ALL THE COURTS ON THERE ASS FOR ALL THE LAWS THEY BREAK DUE TO TRESPASSING AND HELL RAISING. LETS LOOK BACK WHAT HAPPEN TO THE YOUNG KIDS THAT WAS HERE IN THE SUMMER AFTER THEY WENT TO JAIL AND THE MANY BEFORE THEM DOES (CRMW) STILL KEEP IN CONTACT WITH THEM OR HAVE THEY BEEN FORGOTTEN. AND ONE OTHER THING I SHOP AT LLOYDS AND SEE THESE PEOPLE COME IN AND OUT ALL THE TIME AND THEY ARE SO BIG ON SAVING TREES BUT MORE THAN 70% OF THEM BUY CIG AND THEY HAVE BIG FIRES IN THERE YARD WHERE DO THEY THINK THAT WOOD COMES FROM. TO THE PEOPLE IN THE TREES BE SAFE AND MAY YOU BE SAFE BUT PLEASE DON’T BE BRAIN WASHED TO ALL THIS CRAZY STUFF IF YOUR THINKING OF YOUR FUTURE YOUR DOING IT ALL WRONG IF YOU TRY TO STOP EVERY THING THAT BUILDS JOBS THEN THERE IS NO FUTURE FOR YOU OR FOR ANYONE .