Environmental crises are ravaging the country.
From tar sands oil pipelines to fracking for natural gas to western coal exports, the fossil fuel industry is literally waging war on the United States. One of the most resisted forms of extraction is mountaintop removal coal mining. In the late 1990′s, a new anti-strip mining movement emerged after a 30 year hiatus. In the past few years, people from inside and outside the coalfields have waged fierce direct action campaigns against the destructive process.
RAMPS, or Radical Action for Mountain People’s Survival, hosted the Mountain Mobilization this past weekend which included plans to shut down an active strip mine.
On Saturday, July 28th, 50 activists entered onto the Hobet Mine in Boone County, WV, the largest strip mine in the country, in an act of mass civil disobedience.
Twenty of them were arrested and are now in jail with $25,000 bail each.
Donate here to help get them out of jail.
One of the arrestees includes 20 year old Dustin Steele who was arrested, beaten by police, badly injured, and has been refused hospital care. Dustin is the son and grandson of West Virginia coal miners and it’s completely outrageous the treatment he has received at the hands of law enforcement.
Here’s a video of Dustin speaking the day before the action.
We want to get Dustin out of jail immediately in order to get him medical care. Please support Dustin.
Actions are happening all over the country to fight back against the fossil fuel industry, now is the time to stand up and stand together.
Twitter Updates
My grandfather and his sons all were coal miners and all of them died from black lung disease. Coal is a taker and never a giver. It takes the beautiful mountains and turns them into blights on the land. It poisons our water. It is not safe to breathe it. Yet companies are fighting to keep it in power and they know all the down sides.
Shirley, I know watching loved ones die from Black Lung Disease is horrifying. The mine owners & their lackies in government act as if Black Lung payments make their destructive actions ok.—Looking back at the previous 2 centuries, miners had no rights. The fact that their
own gov’t sent troops to the mines when miners were striking for better
working, living conditions, the right to unionize is sickening. It was
OK to DROP A BOMB on the miners who had their families with them. Mine
owners to this day do not pay one cent of court ordered fines when miners are killed due to well documeted unsafe conditions. PBS had a series on Appalachia and it hurt to hear that over 500 mountains are gone forever due to mountain top removal. THe COAL KINGS smash & grab,
leaving the ruined lakes, creeks, land that taxpaying citizens live on.
In the 21st century, money/corporations are god’n'government and to hell
with the people who live in the wastelands corporations leave behind.
I guess Bush43 summed up their collective mindset when asked…”Pres.
Bush, what do you see in the next 50 years for this country”? his response: “WHAT DO I CARE, I’LL BE DEAD”…so for those of us who care
about the present and future with knowledge of our past, We care that
coal companies are obsolete and want clean energy investment equal to &
surpassing what coal, oil, gas corporations recieve in subsidies (their companies don’t even need).
gas corporations recieve in subsidies (their companies don’t even need).