RAN activists have spent two days locked-down to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), demanding justice for the people of Appalachia by enforcing the Clean Water Act and ending mountaintop removal mining (MTR).

Specifically we requested that EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson visit Appalachia to witness this American tragedy firsthand by taking a citizen-guided flyover of a mountaintop removal mine site.

While the EPA has not committed to taking the flyover, we are encouraged by their positive comments.

Almost every person who passed through our ‘Purple Mountain’s Majesty’ and underneath the banner “EPA: Pledge to End Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining in 2010” has been incredibly positive about our action. EPA employees, tourists and DC residents all demonstrated their support on the issue.

Photo by Chris Eichler

In addition to the many comments from passing EPA employees that “we are doing a great job” and “please keep doing what you’re doing”, Lisa Jackson personally tweeted her response. Administrator Jackson said in her tweet: “People are here today expressing views on MTM, a critical issue to our country. They’re concerned abt human health & water quality & so am I.”

This conversation extended to Lisa Jackson’s facebook page, now full of comments calling for Lisa to visit Appalachia and examine the impacts of MTR for herself. Many of these came from coalfield residents, using the opportunity to directly communicate with the EPA about their plight.

We have also been told about an internal memo that circulated the EPA headquarters yesterday, explaining that we were a nonviolent, peaceful protest and that staff should not be concerned by our presence drawing attention to an issue that the EPA is working to address.

However, while we’re encouraged by the implicit support from inside the EPA, now it’s time for that to be delivered through real action.

Having firmly placed mountaintop removal coal mining back onto the EPA’s radar, we will ensure that Administrator Jackson cannot ignore this critical issue until mountaintop removal is abolished.

“Few things are more important than a company’s reputation with stakeholders.  It represents the sum of all that we do – and reflects the value and trust that consumers, customers, employees, investors and communities place in our company, our brands and our people. We constantly strive to remain worthy of that trust…” says CEO Ken Powell. You’re right about that, Mr. Powell – your company’s reputation is everything, and it’s massively at risk.

Unfortunately for General Mills, over three hundred concerned cereal eaters across the U.S. and Canada took to the streets last week for a National Palm Oil Week of Action and distributed 20,000 spoof Cheerios postcards.

Concerned citizens are raising awareness about General Mills’ role in rainforest destruction from California to Minnesota to Alberta, Canada: General Mills is definitely on the spot.

In the world of Corporate Social Responsibility, the past two weeks have been an exciting time for companies like General Mills, receiving awards such as ‘Top Corporate Citizen,’ ranking 47^th in the world’s  50 ‘Most Admired Companies’ and 29^th on the ‘Diversity List.’ These awards recognize the company’s strong global reputation – at least according to Fortune Magazine and global business leaders.

But what this small group of decision makers doesn’t know is that millions of Indigenous peoples, endangered species and forests are at risk from palm oil expansion in Indonesia – thanks to General Mills. More »

UPDATE: 7:00am, Friday March 19–After 24 hours activists are still locked down in front of the EPA headquarters in Washington, DC demanding justice for the people of Appalachia and protection for our historic mountains and precious water resources.

MTR Activists Lock Down At EPA

Photos by Chris Eichler

Group Erects Purple Mountain Majesty At EPA: “If Administrator Lisa Jackson Won’t Visit the Appalachian Mountains, They’ll Bring the Mountains to Her”

At 7:00 am this morning, a dozen brave activists released a 25-foot banner on the lawn of the EPA headquarters in Washington, DC. The message on the banner calls on the EPA to pledge to end mountaintop removal coal mining in 2010. But there’s a catch—the banner and two of its holders are suspended from two freestanding tripods 20-feet above the air, and after seven hours they are still hanging there with no sign of coming down.

Today’s protest is an attempt to further pressure EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to enforce the Clean Water Act and halt mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR). Called the worst of the worst strip mining, the practice blows the tops off of whole mountains and contaminates drinking water all for a tiny amount of coal. Activists in today’s protest say they won’t leave unless Administrator Jackson commits to a flyover visit of the Appalachian Mountains and MTR sites, which, shockingly, she has never done before.

After seven hours, Administrator Jackson has made no such commitment. However, a few hours ago she tweeted her response to the protest gathering attention outside her window. As Administrator Jackson said in her tweet: “People are here today expressing views on MTM, a critical issue to our country. They’re concerned abt human health & water quality & so am I.”
More »

This week I’m at Mountain Justice Spring Break with folks from all over Appalachia and the east coast. Ex-coal miners, college students, people from Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, California, West Virginia and lots more are here. Here’s the scoop from Marley Green…

85 Supporters of Mountain Justice gather at Natural Tunnel State Park for Spring Break

Duffield, VA – About 85 young participants from coal communities in Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia, as well as students from colleges and universities across the country, are convening this week at Natural Tunnel State Park in Duffield, Scott County, Virginia, to participate in Mountain Justice Spring Break (MJSB), a program of Mountain Justice. The week-long program features workshops on supporting local campaigns to stop mountaintop removal coal extraction. The event began Friday, March 12 and will end Saturday, March 20, and will include working closely with coalfield residents.

“We’re here, and we’re all working together with the community to stop mountaintop removal coal mining and support sustainable economies,” said Jessie Dodson of Richmond, Virgina, an organizer of MJSB. “Coal companies like A&G are destroying our communities by polluting our water and air and making people sick.”

Supporters are making trips to see mountaintop removal coal sites in the region, as well as lending a hand with area service projects such as weatherization. Participants hope that the weatherization will reduce the impacts of rising energy costs. Mountain Justice supports these efforts as part of the move toward a more sustainable community and economy. More »

Philly EPA Considering 16 New Mining Permits

This morning activists in Philadelphia descended upon their Regional EPA branch to put an end to Mountaintop Removal mining (MTR). Decisions made here in Philly have devastating consequences for Appalachian communities and our country as a whole.

Activists prepared to enter the building and risk arrest by sitting-in until they were granted a meeting with officials inside, and after a successful engagement and demands met, the rally of 40 people exited.

In recent months, the EPA has wavered in their position on mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR); in particular with the recent approval of the high profile Hobet 45 Mine permit. Philadelphia’s EPA has oversight of MTR permits for Virginia and West Virginia, which includes the Hobet 45 Mine. Philadelphia’s Region 3 EPA is considering 16 upcoming MTR permits and is responsible for the enforcement of the Clean Water Protection Act at existing MTR sites, which makes it a critical agent in ending the mining practice.

This has become a national issue. Appalachians can’t wait any longer, and Philadelphia activists met this urgency with action.

Meanwhile, there is a simultaneous rally at EPA’s region 4 in Atlanta GA, also responsible for MTR permitting.

Every day, across Appalachia, the coal industry literally blows the tops off of historic mountains, impoverishing communities, poisoning drinking water, clear-cutting entire forests, wiping out the natural habitats of countless animals, and sacrificing the heritage and the health of families across the region. The EPA estimates that more than a million acres of American mountains across Appalachia have already been lost to MTR, and yet they allow it to continue.

More »

I often post details on various Climate Ground Zero and Mountain Justice actions happening in the Coal River Valley and other parts of West Virginia and Appalachia. It’s often a game of tit for tat as Massey is regularly destroying mountains and harming communities while our ragtag band of pro-mountain activists are shutting down those operations by putting their bodies on the line.

But, some of the more interesting aspects of this work are not playing out in the coalfields and on the mine sites, but in the courts. Massey’s harshest responses can come in the form of violence by it’s employees aimed at community activists, but also from the company itself in the form of restraining orders and civil lawsuits.

Last year, Massey attempted to bar not only activists arrested on their property from returning with temporary restraining orders (TRO), but also they continue to extend them to “associates” of the activists. In Massey’s lawyers estimation, this would bar potentially thousands from trespassing and thus hold them accountable in court.

Furthermore, they are leveling high dollar lawsuits against activists for loss of profits. The 5 person tree-sit team from Jan. has been sued for $75,000. In the past these suits have been called “SLAPP” suits, or “Strategic Litigation Against Public Particpation.” As activists have gotten more effective at slowing down the rate of destruction or pushing an issue onto the national stage, the corporations and the state respond by trying to limit their ability to organize effectively by bogging them down with financial and legal burdens.

Massey’s goals with this litigation is to cause the defendants to succumb to fear, intimidation, mounting legal costs or simple exhaustion and then abandon the campaign. It runs counter to the First Amendment which protects our freedom of speech. More »

You may remember that last June 23, dozens of activists, including myself, organized a daring action to shut down one of Massey Energy’s mountaintop removal sites in West Virginia. That day, fourteen brave activists entered Massey’s mountaintop removal site in Twilight, West Virginia. They risked their lives to shut down a massive, 20-story high earth-destroying piece of mining equipment known as a ‘dragline,’ and to protect the families whose lives are harmed every day for this destructive mining practice.

Read more about the dragline action.

The “Dragline 14″ needs your support! I need your support! Please donate!

Our subsequent legal costs have totaled over $23,000. Since last September, we have raised over half of it, but we still need to raise another $4,000 by early March.

I have donated to the Dragline 14 because I believe that sustaining the critical tradition of non-violent direct action is one of the only ways to ensure that we stop the destruction of eco-systems, the poisoning of communities and the contamination of precious drinking water from mountaintop removal. Together we must make a show of support for true heroes, and ensure that more follow in their footsteps.

Please donate to support the Dragline 14. More »

The fossil fools ain’t no joke – but that doesn’t mean we can’t fight them with one!

The Fossil Fuel Empire is real and it’s here. The stakes couldn’t be higher: destabilization of the global climate, communities from Alaska to Alberta to Appalachia being destroyed by dirty energy extraction and combustion, devastating super hurricanes, droughts, flooding, the list goes on…

Last December in Copenhagen, the politicians sold us out to the fossil fools, corporate lobbyists and big banks. Now we’re left with “green capitalism,” carbon market shenanigans and continued assaults on our communities and ecosystems. If we’re going to stop climate change, the only real solution is to keep fossil fuels in the ground.

This April, join Rising Tide North America as we pull some pranks that pack a punch. Use the simply subversive to the downright disruptive: office occupations, banner drops, road blockades, clownish parades, spoof product launches, sub-vertising, leaflets, street theater, lock-downs and laugh-ins. Whatever works for you and your group!

Climate change is no laughing matter, but we can’t take things too seriously all the time. Join us this Fossil Fools Day as we employ our senses of humor to hatch some harebrained schemes that will strike a blow to fossil foolery everywhere!

And remember what Abbie Hoffman said: “The first duty of a revolutionary is to get away with it.” More »

The legal system is loaded against people fighting King Coal in Appalachia. Over the past year, we’ve seen excessive “cash-only” bails for non-violent activists in jail and excessive fines once their legal matters are settled.

Now two of the three activists arrested last week at the Marfork Coal Company’s offices are fighting back against their excessive bails ($5000 for two and $7500 for the third activist, Mike Roselle).

These folks are putting their health and safety on the line in resisting big coal and the corrupt legal systems. Please donate to help Climate Ground Zero fight King Coal in southern West Virginia.

BEAVER, W.Va.—Tom Smyth, and Joe Hamsher, from Charleston, W.Va., began a hunger strike in jail today in protest of the absurdity of their $5,000, cash-only bonds compared to that of violent criminals. Smyth and Hamsher went to jail last Thursday when they chained themselves to office furniture in Massey’s Marfork Mining Co., office in response to mounting permit violations and the continued blasting on Coal River Mountain. They also presented a citizen’s arrest warrant to Marfork president Christopher Blanchard, on charges of attempting to injure by poison, malicious or unlawful assault or assault of a child near a school, and wanton endangerment. More »

Last week, Eric Blevins came down from a nine day tree-sit on Coal River Mountain. He then spent a couple of days in jail. While in jail, he wrote this letter to the Register-Herald in Beckley, WV and then dictated it over the phone to a support person at Climate Ground Zero.

This week, we commemorated the 50 year anniversary of the Greensboro sit-ins that were an integral part of the civil disobedience phase of the civil rights movement. Many of the students that participated in those sit-ins were trained at the Highlander School in Tennessee near Coal River Mountain tree-sitter Eric Blevin’s home.

As we ponder our next steps in the climate action and climate justice movements, we need to remember that this sort of large scale change requires sacrifice. With sacrifice, we need support. The civil rights activists risked their lives fighting segregation in the south. Many spent long periods of time in jail. During the Greensboro sit-ins, violence and harassment of protesters often escalated.

So far, the coal industry and their political allies, inside and out of Appalachia, are fighting the anti-mountaintop removal legally (both criminal and civil), often resulting in jail time and fines. There have also been threats and acts of violence directed at community members, organizers and activists in the coalfields. Eric and his fellow tree-sitters sat in 60 ft. trees for over a week while coal company employees harassed and abused them with constant noise, bright lights, tree shaking and threats of spraying them down with fire hoses. At the end of their tree-sit, Massey Energy has sued them for $75,000 and filed for a temporary restraining order in federal court.

To me, there are a number of obvious parallels to the Greensboro sit-ins and the Coal River tree-sits. Like our predecessors in the civil rights movement, the anti-mountaintop removal movement has drawn a line in the sand to end the “pervasive and irreversible impacts” of mountaintop removal and can’t give up.

Here’s Eric’s letter from a jail in southern West Virginia:

This is in response to the article in Saturday’s paper about Amber and I coming down from our tree sit and the letter about paid, outsider environmentalists who support the EPA, which I read while sitting in the Southern Regional Jail.

I am not an outsider. I am an Appalachian. Virginia-based Massey Energy is an outsider. The people who live in the mountains and work on the mine sites work harder, longer hours and make less money than those who work at Massey’s headquarters in Richmond. All the people here should control how the land around them is used and they should profit the most from it, not people in an office far away who aren’t as impacted by the decisions they make that destroy our mountains. More »