Comments on: Four Anti-Mountaintop Removal Activists Arrested at Home

By: Roberta Dees

Roberta Dees — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 17:29:52 +0000

What can we, who hate mountaintop coal and the burning of coal do to help?
Can we get contact info for the United Mine Workers? We could explain to them that we don’t hate them and we don’t want to take their jobs and ruin their lives.
All of us who deplore mountaintop removal must also deplore the lack of jobs in the impacted areas, where long-term poverty exists. We must energize the search for replacement jobs. For example, we can throw our support to underground mining, this time demanding safety precautions for workers and lessened impact on the environment.
We must help the local individuals and groups to apply for grants for “green” industries. Let’s spread the good news about the hard work of the Cold River Mountain citizens, developing the proposal to put a windfarm on top of their mountain. And let’s help them get it funded.

State governments are eligible for federal Recovery and Reinvestment money, but they must ask for it. We need to take back from foreign countries the research and production of equipment for alternative energy. We should help provide resourcesfor the Appalachian communities. Like the recent grant of $98 million to Clemson U. of South Carolina, for work with wind turbines.
Simplest, and the easiest and quickest to get going, is the industry that reduces energy costs. Many thousands of people are needed for restoration and retrofitting:
energy audits, of houses and businesses to find out how they can save electricity and money; and
weatherizing and renovating existing structures – houses, businesses, and city, county and state office buildings.
This industry has the additional benefits. By reducing our need for coal, we can keep our mountains and also improve our health by the decrease in air and water pollution.

Can you help?

By: Mandie

Mandie — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:23:37 +0000

Sounds like the 1960s when cops would arrest anti-war activists. This is crazy. Again, have the cops nothing better to do than arrest environmentalists? Apparently not!
Were they harming anyone? NO! Leave them alone.
They were arrested because of hanging a banner on Walker CAT’s headquarters. So they hung a banner, big deal.
Arrested at home, insane…completely insane. Very unfortunate too! It’s a very old charge. October was “last year”. There are mad people on the loose everywhere and the cops are focused on environmentalists. That’s a great thing to know. No don’t bother trying to catch the bad people, go for the hippie-environmentalists.
I guess it is the 60s all over again. (never went thru it the first time….know many people that have)
I wish they’d just leave us alone. We’re trying to do our part to save the world. We all deserve a healthy world to live in, with healthy people and animals. Destroying mountains isn’t a way of making the world healthy.
Arresting environmentalists doesn’t help either.
One day, they will leave us alone, let us protest in peace,
and be united. That day will come when they jump on our wagon.

I’d join this group. The environment means everything to me. Too far away though. Spiritually though…I’ll be there!

Power to the People!

By: Linkesh Diwan

Linkesh Diwan — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 20:17:00 +0000

I want to join you. Unfortunatly, I’m a little far away (India).

All the more power to you! Jai Ho!