Stand up to Intimidation
Jury Nullification
Think an activist should be found not guilty because they were doing the right thing? You can do that legally, despite what a judge may tell you. Read more to find out.
Mining Violations in the Coal River Valley
Marfork Coal Company Violations on Coal River Mountain
Drainage violations on Marfork Coal Co.’s Brushy Fork impoundment, processing plant & refuse pile
Water violations on the Brushy Fork sludge impoundment
Mountaintop Removal Mining
I Love Mountains
Your most comprehensive one-stop-shop for everything about mountaintop removal! Watch videos, read blogs (or start your own), research the politics and economics of coal, and find out your local connection to destructive surface mining.
What is mountaintop removal? —Journey Up Coal River
Defines and explains the process of mountaintop removal coal mining, as part of the Coal River interactive mapping project.
What is mountaintop removal? —Mountain Justice
Describes the five-step process of mountaintop removal coal mining, supported by several clear and educational diagrams.
Journey Up Coal River
A fascinating, interactive mapping project that combines music, audio, photography and the written word to tell the story of the Coal River Valley, West Virginia. This information-dense site is probably the best place to get started learning about what’s going on in this part of Appalachia, with much that can be extrapolated and compared to other parts of Appalachia.
Organizations Opposing Mountaintop Removal in Appalachia
Mountain Justice
A collaborative grassroots effort dedicated to resisting mountaintop removal and raising awareness of sustainable energy alternatives in Appalachia.
Coal River Mountain Watch
A prominent organization fighting for social, economic, and environmental justice in West Virginia.
Edwight Watch
Edwight Watch is an effort to expose the lack of regulation on Edwight and all mountaintop removal sites in the coalfields of West Virginia.
Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition
A nonprofit organization dedicated to the improvement and preservation of the Ohio Valley environment through education, grassroots organizing, coalition building, leadership development, and media outreach.
Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards
An organization of concerned community members and their allies who are working to stop the destruction of local communities by surface coal mining, to improve the quality of life in our area, and to help rebuild sustainable communities.
Christians for the Mountains
A network of persons committed to advocating that Christians and their churches recognize their God-given responsibility to live compatibly and sustainably upon this earth God has created. Non-denominational and non-partisan, but does take a critical prophetic stance in advocacy for justice, righteousness, and peace for the land and its inhabitants.
Sludge Safety Project
Coal slurry is inflicting citizens of Prenter, West Virginia with kidney cancer, breast cancer, gallstone emergencies, and severe oral complications. The Sludge Safety project is working towards eliminating coal slurry impoundments and underground injections, improving water quality for West Virginia (that has been devastated by coal mining), and demanding alternative methods for coal waste disposal. A collaborative project of Coal River Mountain Watch, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, and Concerned Citizens of Mingo County.
United Mountain Defense
“…A volunteer driven nonprofit organization committed to halting mountaintop removal coal mining in Tennessee and assisting coal impacted communities.”
Student Environmental Action Coalition — Appalachia
One of the largest grassroots coalitions of student and youth environmental groups, working together to protect our planet and future. A part of the wider Energy Action Coalition.
***Click HERE to take action online now!
Media Voices
Coal Tattoo
The most up-to-date resource for coal-related media in West Virginia! A blog component of the West Virginia Gazette newspaper. The author frequently shares exciting “insider” info, and therefore has quite a following of addicted readers.
Appalshop Arts & Education Center
A non-profit, multi-disciplinary arts and education center in the heart of Appalachia producing original films, video, theater, music and spoken-word recordings, radio, photography, multimedia, and books. Effectively utilizes various art forms to help preserve Appalachian history and culture.
Coal Mountain
A clearing house of coal-related headlines maintained by author Mark Nowak.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Created in 1970 when journalists were being forced by the government to break confidentiality agreements, this organization still exists today to offer and support free legal guidance for members of public media.
Related Campaigns
Shaleshock
Protecting Northern Appalachian communities from exploitative gas drilling.
Black Mesa Water Coalition
Defending “four thousand square miles of ginger-colored plateau land in northern Arizona, a distinct elevated landmass the shape of a bear’s paw,” from the likes of Peabody Coal. They also have a Just Transition campaign.
Black Mesa Indigenous Support
Black Mesa Indigenous Support (BMIS) is a grassroots, all volunteer run collective dedicated to working with and supporting the indigenous peoples of Black Mesa in their Struggle for Life and Land who are targeted by & resisting unjust large-scale coal mining operations and forced relocation policies of the US government.
RRENEW Collective
Remembering and Renergizing Neighbors Economies and Watersheds
The RRENEW Collective was created in the Summer of 2009 in the spirit of facilitating the placement of volunteers with organizations working for a sustainable Appalachia in the coal dependent region of Southwest Virginia.
Indigenous Environmental Network
“A network of Indigenous Peoples empowering Indigenous Nations and communities
towards sustainable livelihoods, demanding environmental justice and maintaining
the Sacred Fire of our traditions.”
Direct Action
Ruckus Society Action Planning Manual
A basic introduction to the concepts, organization, and execution of nonviolent direct action (NVDA)
Read our page about nonviolent civil resistance.
***Click HERE for a wide variety of media, file downloads, brochures, etc from Mountain Justice.
Summer 2010 Action Camp Flier
- 11×17 poster.
- Suggestion: print
- on glossy in grayscale.
- Image courtesy of
- Mountain Justice.
