New York Times: President Obama Can Stop Mountaintop Removal

Mike Roselle and James Guin McGuinness carry their banner across the mountaintop removal site on Cherry Pond Mountain on February 16, 2009.   photograph (c) antrim caskey, 2009
Mike Roselle and James Guin McGuinness carry their banner across the mountaintop removal site on Cherry Pond Mountain on February 16, 2009. photograph (c) antrim caskey, 2009

Editorial

Appalachia’s Agony

Published: March 16, 2009

The longstanding disgrace of mountaintop mining is now squarely in President Obama’s hands.

A recent court decision has given the green light to as many as 90 mountaintop mining projects in Appalachia’s coal-rich hills, which in turn could destroy more than 200 miles of valleys and streams on top of the 1,200 miles that have already been obliterated. The right course for the administration is clear: stop the projects until the underlying regulations are revised so as to end the practice altogether.

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Chattanoogan: 14 Arrested in Die-IN at TVA HQ in Knoxville

Aerial view of the TVA Coal Ash Disaster in Harriman, TN, December 29, 2008.  photograph (c) antrim caskey, 2008
Aerial view of the TVA Coal Ash Disaster in Harriman, TN, December 29, 2008. photograph (c) antrim caskey, 2008

14 Protestors Arrested At TVA Headquarters In “Die In”

posted March 14, 2009

Dozens of activists from across the country on Saturday staged a demonstration at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s headquarters, which resulted in the arrest of 14 individuals.

The protestors were participating in a “die in” in front of the building.

They said the event was held “in solidarity with communities affected by the destructive impacts of mountaintop removal coal mining and the survivors of the recent coal ash disaster in Harriman.”

“It is time for TVA to take full responsibility for its destructive behavior,” Eric Blevins, an organizer with Mountain Justice, said.

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See additional coverage in the East Tennessean

Mountains, Machinery and Lock Downs


Matt Noerpel of Coal River Mountain Watch reacts to the latest addition to Sarah Haltom's handpainted mural of the Coal River Valley on the Howell Street building.
Matt Noerpel of Coal River Mountain Watch reacts to the latest addition to Sarah Haltom's handpainted mural of the Coal River Valley on the Howell Street building. photograph by Antrim Caskey


The Conversation

by Antrim Caskey

WHITESVILLE, WV —   Several years ago, Sarah Haltom painted a mural on the side of the Coal River Mountain Watch office in Whitesville, WV. The mural of the Coal River Valley has stood now for years as a surprising (for first time viewers) and beloved site in a town that seems to be hanging on by its fingernails.

About a month ago, in February, in the midst of a recent sustained campaign of peaceful non-violent civil disobedience in the Coal River Valley targeting the plethora of mountaintop removal operations that have engulfed this Appalachian valley, someone amended Ms. Haltom’s mural by adding six bulldozers/excavators; artfully stenciled them on in fact, with “big machine” yellow paint.

Coal River Mountain Watch let the local and state police know what happened; they promised to keep an eye out. But some wonder if it was guerilla artists who are responsible for the big yellow machinery. Sgt. Michael Smith of the West Virginia State Police (Whitesville detachment) commented to me when I was in his custody recently that “no one is talking…we don’t know who did it.”

I stopped by the CRMW office today to document the latest response in this visual conversation between strangers. Sarah Haltom has responded. Yesterday Ms. Haltom painted six “protesters,” locked down to the yellow bulldozers with long long chains, while holding amongst them four different banners reading in part, “Windmills Not Toxic Spills,” a reference to Coal River Wind project and the Dec.22, 2008, TVA coal ash disaster in Harriman, TN.

A man from Sylvester pulled up as I was shooting the mural. His son was driving – he hopped out to go run an errand. His father hollered to me, “You’re not from around here are ya?” I turned around and smiled and told him that I was from around here, I live in Rock Creek. His head kind of snapped back in surprise and we began to discuss the issues.

“My Daddy worked underground at Blue Pennett for 35 years,” he told me. “Underground. Why can’t they do that today?” He went on to lament with much anguish the losses West Virginia has suffered at the hands of coal. “What they’ve done is terrible. They’re things I’ve seen that he’ll never see,” he said, gesturing to his son who had now returned to the car. “But you can’t do anything about it.”

We turned to the mural and discussed it a bit more. “It’s like a conversation,” he said.

As the son revved the engine to start, the silver haired man, clad in deciduous hardwood camo–the standard in West Virginia– stuck his arm out the passenger window and shook my hand, “It was very good to meet you.”


The most famous corner in Whitesville.
The most famous corner in Whitesville. photographs (c) antrim caskey, 2009