2010 « Climate Ground Zero

Archive for 2010

Keep Ison Rock Ridge Standing & Call In to Senator Jim Webb’s Office

Sunday, July 25th, 2010
posted by Dea

Please join Mountain Justice in calling Senator Jim Webb on Monday July 26th and ask that he “KEEP ISON ROCK RIDGE STANDING” and support the communities of southwestern Virginia from mountaintop removal coal mining.

Call Senator Webb and ask him to 1. Thank the EPA for all they have done to protect coalfield communities from surface coal mining and 2. Ask the EPA to continue to intervene with the Ison Rock Ridge water permit!

To reach Senator Webb’s DC office call: 202-224-4024
or Toll Free: 1-866-507-1570

Questions, comments, or to find out how to take further action, please contact Nina at the Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards office: (276) 523-4380

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Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Register Now to Attend Appalachia Rising!

Sunday, July 25th, 2010
posted by Dea

Appalachia Rising is a mass mobilization in Washington DC on September 27, 2010 calling for the abolition of mountaintop removal and surface mining. It is a culmination of the national movement against surface mining and a foundation upon which to build a pan-Appalachian movement for prosperity and justice. We will not stand idly by as we see our past and future blasted to rubble, our communities and mountains eliminated, and our neighbors poisoned as coal executives and their shareholders grow rich. Appalachians are not, and never will be, collateral damage.

We invite all who share our vision to join with us on September 27, 2010 in our nation’s capitol for an end to mountaintop removal, surface mining, and a renewed vision of Appalachia.

The Day of Action will unite thousands (if you mobilize your communities!) in a historic, vibrant, and diverse march and mass action calling for the abolition of mountaintop removal and strip mining in Appalachia and articulating a positive vision of sustainable prosperity in Appalachia.

Voices from the Mountains will put direct democracy into action with large strategy discussions, provide a space for skill-based workshops, and enrich us with cultural events. We will use time over the weekend to prepare for our massive Day of Action on Monday September 27.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

All Highwall Miner Protesters Released

Saturday, July 24th, 2010
posted by ambernitch

All the protesters from the July 14th lockdown to a highwall miner have been released. Katie Huszcza and Sophie Kern were released Tuesday and Thursday, respectively, while Colin Flood and Jimmy Tobias were released this morning. The lockdown last Wednesday shut down a highwall miner machine for four hours on the Brushy Fork area of Coal River Mountain. The protesters locked down in order to show their opposition to mountaintop removal mining, which has destroyed some of the densest, oldest forests on Coal River Mountain, taking with it many natural resources. The three are scheduled to speak at Reverend Billy’s Coal River Revival in Charleston this evening.

All report that they are happy to be released and thank everyone for their continued support, monetary and otherwise.

Posted in jail support | No Comments »

Activists disrupt Blankenship at National Press Club

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
posted by charles

From our friends over at Rainforest Action Network:

RAN activists just disrupted Massey CEO Don Blankenship’s talk at the National Press Club sending him a strong message:“Your coal is not Clean, Safe or Forever.” They were eventually escorted out by security.

Pics soon. You can see live video at http://press.org/events/npc-luncheon-don-blankenship

Washington, D.C. (7/22/10)— Today activists with the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) attended Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship’s National Press Club speaking event. RAN was there to call attention to Massey’s repeated mine safety violations, including the April 5 Upper Big Branch mine explosion in which 29 miners tragically died, as well as the company’s lead role in mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR). Blankenship has gained quite a reputation for his company’s mine safety violations as well as his indifference to environmental protection and climate change.

Posted in Coal Slurry, Other Climate/Energy News, Photos | 1 Comment »

Update from Katie: I’m out of jail!!

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010
posted by cgz-news

I’m out of jail!!

My three friends and fellow protestors are still in jail and continued
support for them would be fantastic! Support either through letters, positive thoughts or donations to the legal fund so they can be bailed out are all greatly appreciated!

-Katie

"The action went really well, the miners were friendly and we shut that shit down for four hours."

Colin Flood, Jimmy Tobias, and Sophie Kern would love to receive mail in jail at the following address:

Southern Regional Jail
1200 Airport Road
Beaver, WV 25813

A collection of visual, aural and written accounts and statements about this action:

The video from the action is here.
A video of them talking about their actions is here.
Their written statements are here
An audio interview here with Rock Creek, W.Va., resident Ed Wiley talking about Brushy Fork before it was filled with coal slurry.
Photos are here, including two maps.

Posted in Action Alerts, Special Coverage, Uncategorized, jail support | 4 Comments »

Blair Mountain Battlefield Mysteriously Being Bulldozed

Friday, July 16th, 2010
posted by cgz-news

In 1921, union miners staged the largest armed insurrection in American labor history on Blair Mountain, in Logan County, WV. Between 10,000 and 15,000 UMWA miners were stopped en route to Mingo County, where they were marching to liberate union men imprisoned under martial law and to organize the coalfields by force. For five days, the miners confronted a private army run by coal operators– and were only defeated when the US Army intervened on industry’s behalf. While the miners lost on Blair, the battle led to a much stronger American labor movement that went on to win numerous concessions, including minimum wage and standardized work weeks.

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Posted in Feature | 10 Comments »

Video, highwall miner shut down, $12,000 bail

Thursday, July 15th, 2010
posted by bfbryant

Katie Huszcza, Colin Flood, Jimmy Tobias, and Sophie Kern, activists with Mountain Justice and Climate Ground Zero were arrested last night and are held on a collective $12,000 bail. They were participating in an act of non-violent civil disobedience against the destructive and irresponsible practice of mountain top removal by locking themselves to a high wall miner on Coal River Mountain.

Please donate to the legal defense fund by clicking below.

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Posted in Coal Slurry, Photos, Special Coverage, Video | 2 Comments »

Protestors who stopped highwall miner speak

Thursday, July 15th, 2010
posted by cgz-news

In this video, the four protestors, all of whom are awaiting arraignment in Beckley, WV’s Southern Regional Jail, speak about why they took action. You can read their written statements here.

Posted in Special Coverage, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Activist Statements from Highwall Miner Lockdown

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
posted by cgz-news

Colin Flood, 22, Vermont:

In West Virginia an entire way of life is not only being destroyed but is becoming impossible to resume. The water is no longer fit to drink; it has to be store bought. Every mountain that is destroyed takes with it hunting grounds, fishing waters, and many species of edible mushrooms and plants, all of which once provided income and sustenance free for the using. When the timber is gone, when the topsoil is gone, when the air and water are destroyed, the less than 4% of our nation’s energy needs that mountaintop removal provides will be small consolation. Explosives equivalent to a Hiroshima bomb are detonated across Appalachia every week, destruction on the same scale as the oil spill in the Gulf and the result of the same criminal disregard for health, safety and the law that companies like Massey and BP display on a daily basis.

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Posted in Uncategorized | 11 Comments »

Activists stop strip mining machine on Coal River Mountain

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
posted by cgz-news

July 14, 2010
Contact: Charles Suggs – 304 854 7372
Email: news@climategroundzero.org
Note: www.climategroundzero.org and www.mountainjustice.org

“It was usually around July you could go up there and sit and it was like the annual bear gathering up there… The whole area was full of laurels. The bears had tunnels through them, it was so thick…What’s going on today you know with the Brushy Fork of course, that whole area has just about been stripped out now, and that’s all been taken away.” Ed Wiley on Coal River Mountain

MARFORK, W.Va. – Protestors associated with Climate Ground Zero and Mountain Justice have locked to and shut down a brhighwall miner on Coal River Mountain today. Colin Flood, 22, and Katie Huszcza, 21, are locked to the mining equipment on Massey Energy’s Bee Tree Surface Mine, near to the Brushy Fork Sludge Impoundment (maps: zoomed out, up-close). Their banner states “Save Coal River Mountain” alongside images of ginseng, a morel, a deer and a black bear, the West Virginia state animal.

Activists lay a banner reading "Save Coal River Mountain" in front of the highwall miner.

The human rights activists locked down in order to bring attention to the many local resources that will be lost if blasting on Coal River Mountain continues. This destruction led the four protesters, including 22-year-old Jimmy Tobias and 20-year-old Sophie Kern, both of whom acted as direct support, to take part in the action. “These mountains are home to some of the most biologically diverse temperate forests in the world and contain a variety of precious flora and fauna including edible and medicinal plants that can save lives, a wide array of extremely nutritious mushrooms, old growth forest and an abundance of deer and trout,” Huszcza said, “Coal River Mountain is priceless.”

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Posted in Press Releases, Special Coverage | 42 Comments »

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