Climate Ground Zero

Check out Bo Webb’s letter to Al Gore on Huffington Post. Here’s an excerpt:

Despite a number of federal citations against illegal mining activity, Bo Webb has learned that blasting at the Massey Energy owned mountaintop removal site above his home in Clays Branch will re-start after a two month shut-down.

In March, 2008, Bo Webb looks out over what used to be Shumate Hollow. Shumate hollow was named for Revolutionary War General Shumate; the vast parcel of hardwood forested mountain valleys was his reward.

Now, Shumate is the name for the toxic coal sludge impoundment above Marsh Fork Elementary School  — the 2.8 billion gallons of sludge in the Shumate impoundment is just one part of the massive coal complex owned by Massey Energy. In addition, there is the massive Edwight mountaintop removal site - where blasting for coal occurs dangerously close to Shumate dam; the Goals Coal processing plant treats the mined coal with a plethora of chemical agents before shipping it to market.

Dear Al Gore:

Your long-time work on climate destabilization has triggered a sea change in how our nation tackles the impending crisis of global warming. I deeply admire and appreciate your commitment to an urgent issue that transcends borders, and affects the fate of our children’s future.

As a father and grandfather raising a family in the great forests of the Appalachian coalfields, where my family has been rooted since the 1830s, I am writing you in a time of similar urgency.

This spring, I waited anxiously during the entire debate over the historic American Clean Energy and Security Act–or Waxman-Markey bill–to hear one critical truth: That we cannot discuss the end result of burning coal–the greatest contributor of carbon dioxide emissions–without discussing the beginning process of extraction, cleaning and transportation of coal.

That, in effect, the coalfields are ground zero in the climate change battle. If we are to be serious about addressing the “inconvenient truth,” then banning mountaintop removal is a logical and required first step in capturing carbon and saving our forests.

You, more than any other person in our country, understand this. As a former Senator of Tennessee, a coal-producing state, and Vice President, you have always been aware of the true price of coal for our communities, our environment, our skies, and our children’s future.

As you know, mountaintop removal operations have wiped out millions of acres of deciduous hardwood forests in our nation’s great carbon sink of Appalachia. In addition, in West Virginia alone, 50 million tons of coal are exported annually to the dirty coal-fired plants in China and other countries.

Here in the thriving green forests of the Appalachian mountains, coalfield residents understand the reality of climate change better than anyone.

Read the rest of Bo’s letter on the Huffington Post.


Senate Hearings on Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining, June 25, 2009 - Images by antrim caskey

Hundreds of anti-mountaintop removal activists gathered today at the Marsh Fork Elementary in Sundial, WV, deep in the Appalachian mountains. Hundreds of pro-coal counter protesters also turned out, resulting in constant interruption of speakers and musical performers and culminating in charges of battery against local woman Ruth Tucker, who struck Goldman Environmental Prize winner Judy Bonds in the face. Bonds has reported pain akin to whiplash when I spoke with her this evening.

Marsh Fork Protest, May 23, 2009 - Images by antrim caskey

Dramatic footage refutes Masseys claim that protesters battered miners.Mountain Action and Climate Ground Zero have now released dramatic video footage that documents the June 18th protest at Massey Energy’s Twilight mine site.“By releasing this footage we can clearly demonstrate that protesters were not involved in any violence, did not assault anyone and were even allowed by the operator to climb the stairway leading up the boom,” said Climate Ground Zero director Mike Roselle.“People can look at this footage and judge for themselves, but we think it proves that Massey’s claims that the protestors were violent are not supported by the facts. It was a non violent demonstration, and like the other peaceful protest that have been held to stop mountain top removal since early February no one was threatened or harmed in any way.”“These drag lines are destroying the Appalachians and endangering our future.” said Roselle.“They endanger local communities by exposing them to toxic materials and flooding. They need to be shut down and that needs to happen sooner rather than later. The purpose of the protest was to call attention to the true cost of mining and burning coal.”