VIDEO: Mountaintop Removal is an American Tragedy

Mountaintop removal is an American tragedy. Plain and simple. The practice destroys hundreds of Appalachian mountains, contaminates drinking water and sacrifices America’s communities for small seams of coal. That’s exactly what actress and RAN ally Susan Sarandon has to say in our new video on mountaintop removal coal mining: This week, hundreds have convened in [...]

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Coal Tattoo: Massey’s Blankenship to Plead the Fifth in Mining Disaster Probe

Don Blankenship is going to plead the 5th in the Upper Big Branch probe. Seems that Big Don is invoking his right to avoid self-incrimination. I’m pretty shocked and awed by this bit of information. I guess all those times I called Blankenship a “homicidal maniac,” his lawyers didn’t disagree. Per Ken Ward at Coal [...]

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The PNC Four Go Free

Last month RAN organized a protest inside PNC Bank’s Washington DC branch in coalition with the Earth Quaker Action Team, RAN Chicago and Reverend Billy and the Church of Life After Shopping. We wanted to draw attention to PNC’s role in financing mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining in Appalachia and put pressure on the bank [...]

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Sept 27th: Take Action to Save U.S. Mountains

1 Change Your Facebook Status Thousands are marching to the White House today to save the Appalachian Mountains from being blown to bits by mountaintop removal (MTR) mining. What can we do? Tell the White House to ABOLISH MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL at http://www.facebook.com/WhiteHouse 2 Change Your Profile Pics Right click on this photo, save to your [...]

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Top 3 Ways to Rid U.S. Need for Mountaintop Removal Coal

Those of us who are working to stop mountaintop removal coal mining are often asked how the United States would meet its energy needs without coal from Appalachia. There are a few answers to that question… 1 Be Energy Efficient One answer is that opportunities for energy efficiency in the US are huge. Individual and [...]

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A letter to Lisa Jackson from West Virginia

Yesterday we learned the news that the EPA has, yet again, flip-flopped on mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining and given the go-ahead to new mining at Pine Creek in Logan County, West Virginia For West Virginia coal miner’s widow Lorelei Scarbro and leader with the Alliance for Appalachia, who has met numerous times with the [...]

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EPA’s First Decision Under New Mountaintop Mining Guidelines Goes to King Coal

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has given a green light for the Pine Creek mine permit, an MTR mining site in Logan County, W.Va. This is the first permit decision the EPA has issued under the new mountaintop mining guidelines, which came out last April and were anticipated to provide tougher oversight of mountaintop removal [...]

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The New Battle of Blair Mountain

Massey doesn’t give a shit. Every day, their mountaintop removal mining operations destroy a little more of our natural heritage. It depopulates communities. It poisons the ground water. Their underground operations received international attention after Massey’s constant shirking of federal regulations led to the deaths of 29 miners in the Upper Big Branch mine in [...]

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Don Blankenship: An American Tragedy

This past week the eyes of the world have been focused on the tragic events at Big Branch mine in Coal River Valley, West Virginia, where 29 underground coal miners lost their lives in the most serious US mine disaster in 40 years. Our hearts go out to the community as they cope with such [...]

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EPA moves to block the largest MTR mine in West Virginia

We’re hearing some reassuring news from the EPA this morning. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it is moving to block the largest mountaintop removal mining permit in West Virginia history, at Spruce Mine, operated by Arch Coal in Logan County. EPA Region 3 Administrator, Shawn Garvin, made the following statement: “Coal, and [...]

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