Image via PNC Financial Services Group

PNC recently released their 2011 Corporate Responsibility Report. Documents like this  provide a window into how a bank thinks about its environmental and social impact. RAN has been paying close attention to PNC Bank and its approach to the energy industry for a couple of years, so I was eager to get my hands on the new report and see whether PNC is strengthening its commitment to communities and the environment.

The most eye-catching announcement in the introduction is the announcement that PNC will be building the “World’s Greenest Skyscraper” right in the heart of Pittsburgh. Avid readers of the Understory might recall that, in 2009, PNC built the “largest green wall in North America.” This is a commendable step-up in ambition. Extrapolating this trend, I look forward to PNC building the greenest city in the U.S. in 2013 and, before the decade concludes, PNC might just transform this nation to become the greenest on the planet.

But seriously, RAN has been saying for years that, while we like to see corporations green-up their buildings and their operational practices, the true test of a “sustainable” bank is where it puts its money.

If you compare this report to PNC’s first, released in 2010, there is a striking shift in the language used. Whereas previously PNC spoke of “Lending in support of economic growth,” now the message is “Lending to drive growth responsibly.” I’m hearing an acknowledgement of both the tough times we are living in and the role that the unchecked pursuit of profit has played to get us into this unsustainable economic crisis.

On page two, PNC gives an interesting trend analysis of energy sources. While the report doesn’t specifically say that PNC will be moving away from financing coal and oil, it does note that fossil fuels (except natural gas of course) are becoming less attractive as energy sources. I would like to see PNC disclose how its portfolio of energy investments compares to the national energy trends. The bank sounds enthusiastic about “deepening and broadening relationships” with those seeking to develop solar and other energy-efficient projects. However, there is no target stated indicating the level of financing that PNC is aspiring to provide.

Photo by Doug Bardwell

On page three, a new “supplemental due diligence criteria” is outlined that appears to apply to all companies in extractive industries. There is specific mention of “horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing methods.” I suspect these are being addressed because of the bank head office being located in Pittsburgh, where hydrofracking has been banned. I like the broad category of “extractive industries,” but there isn’t much here about what this criteria looks like, and no mention of reporting.

PNC has restated its policy on mountaintop removal (MTR) mining. There is no change here and I have the same criticism as before: This policy has an identified performance standard — “coal producers who receive a majority of their production from MTR mining” — and it is unclear whether this refers to a company’s performance in Appalachia or across the United States. Prior to adopting this policy, PNC had substantial exposure to MTR companies and I would like to see PNC publicly report on the impact of the policy, as its competitors Citi and Morgan Stanley are now doing.

In summary, the 2011 PNC Corporate Responsibility Report demonstrates that this bank’s approach to energy is evolving. But there is still plenty of room to improve transparency around targets and reporting on implementation, and for PNC to be as ambitious with energy underwriting as it is with building green skyscrapers.

In a powerful example of cross-movement solidarity, a large delegation of Appalachians who have been fighting mountaintop removal coal mining participated in the sit-in. They joined a delegation of pipeline landowners from all along the pipeline route at the action:

Photo by Shadia Fayne Wood

In front row, from left to right: East Texas landowner David Daniel is joined by longtime RAN friends and allies Larry Gibson of Kayford Mountain, WV and Teri Blanton of Harlan, KY at the sit-in.

David has been leading the Stop the Pipeline tour that traveled from Texas up through Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska and east to Washington D.C.

Mountaintop Removal Damage via RAMPS

I love the smell of direct action in the morning.

Last week, I was part of Earth First! and Northern Rockies Rising Tide taking over the governor of Montana’s offices in protest of tar sands development, and this morning, the RAMPS Campaign put a couple of tree-sitters up on Coal River Mountain to stop mountaintop removal coal mining.

The tree-sit has stopped Alpha Natural Resources strip mining operations on Coal River Mountain. Catherine-Ann MacDougal and Becks Kolins currently are sitting in trees 80 feet off the ground about 300 feet from active blasting operations.

Their banners read “STOP STRIP MINING” and “FOR JUDY BONDS.”

via americanswhotellthetruth.org

Judy Bonds was an Appalachian leader in the anti-mountaintop removal fight who died of cancer earlier this year.

Judy’s daughter, Lisa Henderson, said in support of the tree-sit, “I hope that today’s actions serve as a symbol that the struggle to live peacefully and pollution-free in the Coal River Valley did not end when my mother’s life did.  My mother and I often compared the fight to survive here on Coal River to the civil rights struggles of the 1960s.  I am sure that generations from now, our children will look back on this movement also and the actions of the people involved, and ask the question of their elders, ‘Whose side were you on?’”

————————————-

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 20th, 2011
Contact: Mathew Louis-Rosenberg, 304-924-1836

Activists Block Mining Operations on Coal River Mountain Call for end to strip mining in the Coal River Watershed

MARFORK, W.Va. – Two protesters associated with the RAMPS Campaign halted blasting on a portion of Alpha Natural Resources’ Bee Tree mountaintop removal mine on Coal River Mountain today by ascending two trees.  Catherine-Ann MacDougal, 24, and Becks Kolins, 21, are on platforms approximately 80 feet off the ground within 300 feet of active blasting on the mine.  The banners hanging from their platforms read “Stop Strip Mining” and “For Judy Bonds” in honor of strip mining activist Julia “Judy” Bonds of Packsville, W.Va. who died of cancer earlier this year.  The activists demand that Alpha Natural Resources stop strip mining on Coal River Mountain and that the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection prohibit future strip mining in the Coal River Watershed.

“I feel, with the keen urgency of extinction, that Alpha Natural Resources cannot be allowed to tear apart Coal River Mountain and allow all those living below it to suffer for their profits. The Coal River watershed cannot tolerate any more damage. There is no way that I can begin to detail the comprehensive destruction that surface mining and mountaintop removal wreak on the forest ecosystem of the southern Appalachian mountains,” said Catherine-Ann MacDougal.

Coal River Mountain is the last major intact mountain in the watershed, which encompasses roughly 570,000 acres in the heart of the southern WV coalfields.  Nearly a quarter of total land area in the watershed is being mined or permitted to be mined in the future, including over 5,000 acres of Coal River Mountain.  As of January 2011, Marfork Coal Company, a subsidiary of Alpha, has destroyed about 75 acres of Coal River Mountain on the Bee Tree permit, the only active mountaintop removal permit on the mountain.  Activists say they are determined to prevent further strip-mining.

Elias Schewel, 27, and Junior Walk, 21, are supporting the sitters from the base of their trees.   Walk, who grew up in Eunice W.Va. at the foot of Coal River Mountain says that he was inspired to take action, in part, by his lifelong relationship with Judy Bonds.

“The last two families to be driven out of this holler we’re in today were Judy Bonds and my great uncle and they both died of lung cancer. Judy spoke often about how hard it was to leave, but black water spill after black water spill, the blasting dust clouds, and fears for the health of her family forced her out. Packsville is gone. We’re not just losing our clean air and clean water. We’re losing our communities, our history, and our culture.”

Judy Bonds’ fears of the health impacts from coal operations have been increasingly backed up by research from WVU.  A recent public health study found a correlation between residence in a mountaintop removal area and higher rates of birth defects, even accounting for other socio-economic factors(i).  Public health research has linked residence in coal-impacted regions to increased rates of cancer, kidney disease, and some chronic illnesses, confirming long-held community concerns.(ii)(iii)

“Those who are drinking tainted water, breathing coal dust, and watching the mountains fall around them don’t need a scientific study to tell them what’s wrong,” noted MacDougal. Fellow tree sitter Becks Kolins remembers their first visit to the home of a Coal River Valley resident last year.

“He showed me his yearbook and pointed out everyone that had gotten cancer. The only teachers that hadn’t gotten cancer had made a point of not drinking the water.”

Lisa Henderson, Judy Bonds’ daughter and Coal River Valley resident, sees this action as a continuation of her mother’s work.

“I hope that today’s actions serve as a symbol that the struggle to live peacefully and pollution-free in the Coal River Valley did not end when my mother’s life did.  My mother and I often compared the fight to survive here on Coal River to the civil rights struggles of the 1960s.  I am sure that generations from now, our children will look back on this movement also and the actions of the people involved, and ask the question of their elders, ‘Whose side were you on?’”

RAMPS (Radical Action for Mountain People’s Survival) is a non-violent direct action campaign based in southern West Virginia dedicated to ending all forms of strip-mining in Appalachia.  Ongoing updates about this action will be available at www.rampscampaign.org.

###

i M. Ahern, M. Hendryx, J. Conley, E. Fedorko, A. Ducatman, and K. Zullig, “The association between mountaintop mining and birth defects among live births in central Appalachia, 1996-2003” Environmental Research in press, 2011 ii N.P. Hitt, M. Hendryx, “Ecological integrity of streams related to human cancer mortality rates.” Ecohealth. 2010 Aug;7(1):91-104.
iii M. Ahern, M. Hendryx, ““Relations between Health Indicators and Residential Proximity to Coal Mining in West Virginia.” American Journal of Public Health, 2008.

via RAMPS

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That’s the situation the communities of Lynch and Benham find themselves in with Massey Energy, which is proposing an underground coal mine directly above the reservoirs that feed these towns located at the base of Eastern Kentucky’s rugged Black Mountain. So many communities have been burned by Massey that it simply cannot be trusted.

Massey, of course, is the company responsible for several horrific mining accidents, including the deaths of 29 mine workers at Upper Big Branch Mine. It’s due to its disgraceful safety record that several groups, including RAN and Appalachian Voices, are pushing for the state of Delaware to strip Massey of its corporate charter.

Massey simply cannot be entrusted with Black Mountain. Here are just a few of the risks associated with the project:

• Public Health: Bennie Massey of the Lynch City Council (and of no relation to Massey the mountain-destroying coal company) once asked: “What’s more important, the water or the coal?” The current proposed mine poses significant threats to the Lynch Reservoir and to water quality in the region. This mine would also place 18 new sediment ponds above the Lynch community and set off blasts near homes and historic buildings. In 2005, while working to expand a road on the A&G MTR mine in Virginia, a three-year-old boy was killed in his sleep when a boulder crashed through his bedroom wall.

• Environmental: During the last two decades, mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia has destroyed or severely damaged more than a million acres of forest. Part of the proposed mining operation on Black Mountain would involve clearcutting the mountain’s northern hardwood forest, which harbors more than 50 species of rare plants and animals as well as a large black bear population — all of which will inevitably have a negative impact on Benham and Lynch’s plans for growing tourism and their local economy.

There is no reason to decimate Black Mountain for coal. Renewable energy technologies are ready today to take the place of dirty coal power, and a new green economy that will support millions of green jobs is waiting to replace the old dirty energy economy.

To find out more about Black Mountain and other fights to rid communities of dirty coal for good, please go here.

You can also take action right now and tell Delaware Attorney general Beau Biden to strip Massey of its corporate charter.

Jack Nicholson as Frank Costello in The Departed.

“When you decide to be something, you can be it. That’s what they don’t tell you in the church. When I was your age they would say we can become cops, or criminals. Today, what I’m saying to you is this: when you’re facing a loaded gun, what’s the difference?”

-Frank Costello, The Departed

What is the difference? I mean really, does it matter which side of the law you’re on when the end result is dead people? It sometimes baffles me, the legitimacy society grants to one group of people who go out and kill people through environmental and labor abuses, while deeming another group “illegitimate” because they kill people while operating in black markets dealing in gambling and drugs.

Case in point, one of last week’s big news stories was the capture of reputed Boston mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger, who eluded federal authorities for 16 years. Last week, the 81-year-old Bulger was found living somewhat openly in a Santa Monica apartment complex with his long-time partner Catherine Greig. Bulger ran various nefarious rackets in Boston for decades, is linked personally to at least 19 murders, and was also the inspiration for Jack Nicholson’s character, Frank Costello, in Martin Scorcese’s 2006 crime drama, The Departed.

Whitey Bulger mug shot via newcriminologist.com

Then we turn to West Virginia, where this week’s news story has been the revelation that another criminal organization, Massey Energy, faked mining safety reports at the Upper Big Branch mine before the disaster. The company fabricated a set of reports to show mining inspectors while maintaining another set of reports showing actual hazards. The subsequent explosion that occurred on April 5, 2010 killed 29 miners (10 more people than Whitey Bulger is accused of killing.)

This revelation comes on top of the indictment a few months ago of Massey’s chief security officer, Hughie Elbert Stover, for obstructing federal investigators in the Upper Big Branch mining disaster. The FBI is also investigating Massey officials for criminal negligence and bribery of federal regulators.

The only different difference between Whitey’s Winter Hill Gang and Massey? Massey has a corporate charter and operated under full protection of the government, while Whitey had to hide all his business transactions from the FBI, the DEA, the IRS, etc., etc.

Don Blankenship photo via huffingtonpost.com

Massey’s former CEO and reputed mob boss Don Blankenship, an outspoken opponent of mining regulation and active GOP funder, did everything possible to avoid compliance and created a corporate culture to fight regulation at every turn. Blankenship flooded West Virginia’s political system with Massey dollars to manipulate state regulators. Blankenship owned West Virginia politicians like Joe Manchin. And he funded vacations to the French Riviera for himself and West Virginia State Supreme Court Justices to influence rulings on Massey related cases.

An independent investigation has revealed that West Virginia’s politicians were afraid of Massey’s strong arm-style tactics, and the company ignored safety regulations to increase profit.

Blankenship is an arch criminal responsible for the deaths of those 29 miners, the destruction of 500 mountains (plus many miles of forest and waterways) and harming local Appalachian communities with toxic waste, flyrock and refuse from mountaintop removal sites.

But what’s the difference between Blankenship and Whitey Bulger?

Society deems Bulger’s occupation as drug dealer, loanshark and contract killer as illegitimate while Blankenship’s status as a corporate CEO is legit regardless of how much misery he spread. As a result, Whitey Bulger is looking at life in prison and maybe even the death penalty, while Blankenship got a nice golden parachute.

My friend Erica was in the room with me. Erica lives in the Kentucky mountains, and her community is not being protected — she illustrated this by recounting the horror she felt on discovering that the water that she had bathed her small child in for years contained arsenic levels many times above the ‘safe’ level. It had been contaminated by surface coal mining.

A mountaintop removal mine above a community in Appalachia

Stories like these are shamefully too common in Appalachia. Yet, while they draw concerned expressions and sympathy from congressional staffers, too often they are dismissed as anecdotal and emotive.

Well, here’s some hard science to back it up.

A new study in the upcoming Environmental Research Journal concludes that children born in Appalachian mountaintop removal counties are at increased risk of suffering birth defects — the leading cause of infant deaths. The study, by Michael Hendryx and Melissa Ahern, examines two million births between 1996 and 2003 and disturbingly concludes that children born near mountaintop removal mines have a 26% higher risk of suffering birth defects, compared to ones born in non-mining regions.

We already know that MTR is destroying jobs and communities. Now we have evidence that it’s destroying human health.

Folks like Erica should be able to raise children without these threats. I’m sending this study direct to Pelosi’s office.

The film has gotten a lot of attention, to the point where the coal industry has created a public relations “war room” to combat it. Nice to see we’re getting under their skin.

Here’s where it’s opening and showing.

Here’s the trailer and movie poster:

via TheLastMountainmovie.com/

via MarchOnBlairMountain.org

“The corporations take advantage of people in Appalachia, and this is happening all over Appalachia, not just West Virginia… We have to save one mountain at a time.”
-Psera Newman, Lexington KY

Billy Bragg sings about there being power in a union. But after the past week, I see that there is power not just in unions, but in unity.

Over the past week, some amazing friends of mine organized one of the largest anti-mountaintop removal actions in the history of Appalachia. The March on Blair Mountain brought together a march and mobile convergence that not only brought out Appalachian community residents, students, and environmentalists that have been fighting mountaintop removal for the past few years, but also built alliances with rank and file labor.

Coal companies are not only seeking to “remove” Blair Mountain’s pristine forests, destroy it’s wildlife and poison the neighboring communities, but they are also seeking to “remove” the actual history of the place. In 1921, 7,000-10,000 miners organizing southern West Virginia’s coal mines had a five-day battle with coal thugs, private security forces and federal troops on the top of Blair Mountain. The corporations literally had airplanes drop surplus World War One bombs on the union miners.

On Saturday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., speaking at the rally, aptly described the Battle of Blair Mountain as “labor’s Gettysburg.” It was a turning point for the legitimization of labor unions in this country. You can see why Corporate America wants to erase it from the history books.

Arch Coal and Alpha Natural Resources (which includes recently acquired Massey Energy operations) have had Blair Mountain’s historical preservation status revoked, have started mining operations on the mountain and are seeking further permitting for strip mining. Alpha is trying to put a kinder, gentler face on coal mining, both underground and on the mountaintops. Their response to the March on Blair Mountain was to put out a statement saying they had no intention of blasting the battleground. But do we really trust one of the many corporations that have contributed to the destruction of 500 Appalachian mountains, poisoned it’s waters and waged war on it’s population?

via MarchOnBlairMountain.org

Last week, a multi-generational, multi-racial, multi-issue group of over 200 marched 50 miles from Marmet, WV to Blair Mountain, WV to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Blair Mountain and call for an end to mountaintop removal. I had friends that joined the march from Texas, Utah, Wyoming, Chicago, Australia and all up and down the East Coast and the Mid-West.

It wasn’t without it’s challenges. The coal companies used intimidation tactics to have six six campsite reservations canceled during the week and a half-long march. And through much of the march, counter-protesters screamed obscenities and shot the finger at marchers. But despite these hardships, they reached the foot of Blair Mountain for a 1,000-person rally and march to the top of Blair Mountain.

The other highlight of the March on Blair Mountain was the direct action. Organizers and participants felt it important that something happen on the actual battlefield itself. The battlefield is now company property and the entrance was protected by private security, locked gates and state police. An action on the battlefield meant a trespass on company property.

While much of the march was organized using “leadership models,” the action planning quickly turned to horizontal organizing. Much like the anti-nuclear movement and the global justice movement, planning used affinity groups and an impromptu spokescouncil meeting to sort out details and make decisions about what the action would do and look like. More than ten affinity groups formed to anchor a breakaway march that went to commemorate the history of Blair Mountain. Some 150 people went onto the battlefield site to set up memorials.

They were eventually evicted by state police and one person was arrested.

Deutsche Bank’s words are in italics, my ‘translations’ are in bold.

Deutsche Bank regards the responsible treatment of the environment as an integral part of its corporate identity. Within the framework of our certified sustainability management system we take environmental, social and governance issues very seriously, and we therefore take your concerns equally seriously. We have carefully studied your letter and consulted internally with the relevant business units.

Deutsche Bank thinks it is important to be environmentally-friendly, and so we have read and discussed your letter.

Please note that we only do business with companies that fully comply with national and local laws and standards. In 2010, we welcomed the US Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to announce a set of actions to further clarify and strengthen environmental permitting requirements. We believe that these new requirements will help to reduce the environmental impacts of mining activities in the US.

We only do business with companies that obey the law and we think that the EPA will make mining more eco-friendly.

Being aware of the possible implications of our business activities, we have integrated environmental, social, and governance aspects in Deutsche Bank’s risk management principles and guidelines. We use a systematic due diligence process, starting at the relevant business unit and involving internal control functions such as Compliance, Legal, Credit Risk Management, and Group Sustainability, to assess new clients as well as the engagement in potential business deals. If a case is especially complex and entails substantial risks, the case is escalated to senior management.

Deutsche Bank has a process to examine the environmental, social and legal impacts of new clients and business deals. And, if we spot these risks, then it is up to senior management to judge whether / how we do business.

Deutsche Bank only participates in financing, when the transaction complies with all the Bank’s relevant internal standards and when it fulfils legal and regulatory requirements. We have also integrated a “Green Filter” into our Group Reputational Risk Management Program policy, in order to evaluate whether a transaction is in line with the Bank’s objective to contribute towards a low carbon society. This approach is particularly relevant in carbon-intensive industries.

Deutsche Bank has a goal to help society reduce carbon emissions and so we look at new clients and deals to see whether this helps us get to that goal.

Business relationships with companies involved in potentially controversial environmental or social practices, are carefully considered and reviewed in depth and a company’s environmental, social and governance risks will be assessed against external standards and internal requirements. If gaps are identified, Deutsche Bank will aim to work with the company to improve such practices or policies, or may indeed define conditions which the company must meet before the Bank will enter into a client relationship.

When we spot a company who is not being as environmentally friendly as the law or as Deutsche Bank would like to see, we will try to work with them to improve. We might set a standard for the company to meet before we will do business with them.

We are constantly working towards further enhancing our due diligence process and expertise, and we therefore appreciate your input.

We would like our process to go further, thank you for your comments.

—

Whichever version you read, the bank avoids any mention of mountaintop removal (MTR). But if Deutsche Bank is true to its word, then they should not do business with any MTR company, as they all systematically break the law (see today’s article by Ken Ward in the West Virginia Gazette that demonstrates legal compliance is getting worse, not better, in Kentucky).

What do you think of Deutsche Bank’s response?

via marchonblairmountain.org

Despite threats and intimidation by King Coal’s supporters, 600 courageous marchers kicked off a five-day march from Marmet, WV to Blair Mountain.

Blair Mountain was the site of the second largest armed insurrection (after the Civil War) in U.S. history when, in 1921, 8,000-10,000 miners fighting for union rights took up arms against hired coal thugs. Blair Mountain has been an iconic symbol for both the U.S. labor movement and West Virginia itself ever since. And now coal companies want to strip mine Blair Mountain. They’ve already stripped it of its historical preservation status and are now seeking permitting to strip mine it.

In fact, they’ve already begun strip mining on parts of it, or so I hear.

You can tell the West Virginia Dept. of Environmental Protection “Don’t let big coal destroy our history” by sending a comment to tell them to protect Blair Mountain.

While the 1921 marchers faced hardship and armed opposition (including armed private security, bombs from planes, and federal troops), the 2011 marchers are facing harassment by pro-coal supporters along the way. A tweet this morning from @marchonblairmt reported “Road has scattered clusters of opposition as honking coal trucks hug the the shoulder – marchers squeeze to fit on.”

But this march is also seeing new alliances between United Mine Workers locals and environmentalists. Blair Mountain organizer and archaeologist Brandon Nida said at this morning’s press conference as the march kicked off, “The unions protect [workers] in the workplace and environmentalist protect them at home. They’re the same.”

No, this isn’t another attempt by the coal industry to re-brand their egregious mining practices. It was Stephen Colbert’s response to Robert Kennedy Jr’s call for an end to the coal industry’s systematic destruction of Appalachia.

Bobby Kennedy was on the Colbert Report last night to talk about his new documentary – the Last Mountain, which features West Virginia activists (and RAN friends) Maria Gunnoe and Bo Webb and the tireless work that they – and thousands of others – have been doing to end mountaintop removal and transition their economy to clean, renewable energy,

Check out that interview here (starts at minute 15) and go see the Last Mountain, it opens in theaters across the U.S. this weekend.

via SAMS

Here’s the press release:

Local Residents March in Downtown Appalachia to Celebrate Ison Rock Ridge and Protest Mountain’s Pending Demise

Appalachia, VA – Over 50 people marched through downtown Appalachia, calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to deny the proposed surface mine permit for Ison Rock Ridge and keep the ridge standing. People marched with puppets of Ison Rock Ridge, King Coal holding Governor McDonnell and Representative Morgan Griffith, and signs saying “Keep Ison Rock Ridge Standing,” and “Friends of Mountains and Miners,” while musicians played traditional Appalachian tunes.

“The EPA is our last line of defense, here in Appalachia. We support what they have done to date to hold up this permit and we just want them to stick to their guns and stand strong,” said Sam Broach, former miner and president of Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards.

The event was kicked off with a rally at 10 a.m. downtown with speakers from SAMS and allied organizations representing 10 different states. After the rally, the group marched through downtown Appalachia with the signs and puppets while chanting “Keep Ison Rock Ridge Standing.” People marched to the Andover Community Center where they celebrated the mountain’s 460 millionth birthday with a fish fry and birthday cake. The party was a celebration that the mountain remains standing, its cultural value preserved and the health of neighboring communities protected for generations to come.

“If this permit is approved, we will only see an increase in the already-devastating health impacts on our people as result of mountaintop removal coal mining,” said Jane Branham, a nurse and vice-president of Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards. “Our people are dying from the pollution in the water and air and the EPA is the only agency that is willing to take a stand to protect us.”

Since 2007, the Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards and the Sierra Club have been fighting the proposed 1,200-acre surface mine that, if approved, would impact over 1,800 residents with increased blasting, noise, coal dust and water pollution. The EPA has objected to this permit for violating the Clean Water Act and the concerned groups are supporting the EPA’s efforts to protect Appalachian waterways. Participants in the march signed postcards urging the EPA to deny the permit and next week, allies from across the state will also sign postcards and call the EPA’s offices with the same message.

The Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards were joined by allied organizations, Mountain Justice, Heartwood, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and the Sierra Club. Members of these groups came from as far away as Indiana and even Australia to support local organizing efforts that have been rooted in the immediate community.

Months ago, it was announced that Alpha Natural Resources began the process of acquiring coal criminal Massey Energy. Massey, long known for destroying Appalachia’s mountains with mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining and responsible for killing 29 of its own workers in the Upper Big Branch mining disaster last year, was in serious financial trouble and Alpha swooped in to buy up the faltering coal giant’s operations and assets.

Entrance to Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch coal mine on anniversary of 2010 mine disaster.

But now, as the stellar reporting of Ken Ward Jr. tells us: “Shareholders argue that the merger is a bad deal for Massey shareholders, and that corporate insiders would profit from it and perhaps insulate themselves from liability over poor management of Massey and the deaths of 29 miners in the April 5, 2010, explosion at Upper Big Branch.”

Shareholders in West Virginia and Delaware have filed two separate civil suits. Through the discovery process of these suits, we’re seeing the really juicy insider thinking of Massey’s coal barons as their kingdom crumbled. It’s very much a “scorched earth” thinking, literally. Massey pushed the limits and produced as much coal as possible for maximum profit, mostly benefiting the executives at the expense of their own workers, Appalachia’s mountains and the climate — until they caused such a catastrophe that they couldn’t get away with it anymore. Then they shifted to selling off the remains for maximum profits in sweetheart deals and escaping any legal liability from the mining disaster.

Because Massey and Alpha execs have such a vested interest in profit, the lawsuit filed by Massey shareholders attempting to stop the Massey-Alpha merger is headed to the West Virginia Supreme Court.

According to documents being released through two civil suits, we’re learning a lot about the Massey internal corporate culture. Most of it is stuff that we’d already assumed, but still interesting.

• The entire Massey organization appears to be managed by an autocratic central command and control structure. This can be seen in all facets of the organization and results in senior operating management being involved in lower level mine issues and decisions.
• The Massey culture is driven by a strong focus on production and its associated components with other facets of the operations, such as employee safety and regulatory compliance, receiving minimal consideration.
• The underground site visits indicated a strong cultural emphasis on production first with compliance and outby maintenance on a non-priority basis.
• The plants are generally poorly maintained and have been for a period of time.
• Alpha was ready to give now-retired Massey CEO Don Blankenship a job as a consultant after the companies were combined.
• The Upper Big Branch disaster cost Massey more than $166 million in out-of-pocket costs and $320 million in lost coal revenues.
• Massey execs were convinced that the Obama administration is out to destroy them.

Last week’s report on the Upper Big Branch disaster by independent investigator David McAteer gave further damning proof that Massey operated a profits-over-people corporate culture.

It’s no wonder that Massey’s board and insiders wanted to dump the company as quickly as possible.

And we’re wondering what Alpha’s financial backers are making of all this. Back in January, Morgan Stanley and Citi together committed $3.3 billion in financing for this deal, while UBS was Massey’s lead bank. All three of these banks have publicly stated their concern about MTR companies like Massey, yet here they are up to their necks in it.

via marchonblairmountain.org

I’ve been part of the movement to end mountaintop removal for five years now.

In 2008, RAN and I helped organize blockade actions against Dominion Energy which was building a new coal fired power plant in Wise, VA. In 2009 and 2010, we worked in solidarity with Appalachian and direct action groups in southern West Virginia taking action on mountaintop removal sites. During that same time, we waged a campaign to end mountaintop removal against the EPA and Wall Street banks like Chase and PNC Bank.

Last fall, we participated in Appalachia Rising, which brought thousands of Appalachians, friends and allies for a mass march and direct action in Washington D.C. 120 of us were arrested doing a sit-in in front of the White House. Now our friends in Appalachia are organizing a mass march, rally and action at Blair Mountain.

Blair Mountain is the site of the 2nd largest insurrection in U.S. history (after the Civil War.) The battle took place in 1921 and saw 8,000-10,000 miners fighting for union rights take up arms against the coal industry’s gun thugs. Now coal companies have stripped Blair Mountain of it’s historical landmark status and want to strip mine it.

A coalition of environmental, labor, student, community and activist groups have come together to stop the strip mining of Blair Mountain.  Beginning on June 4th, a march will begin that will retrace the steps of the 1921 march.

March on Blair Mountain Logistics

1) Attend the March, Rally AND Day of Action

Participants that plan to attend The March should arrive in Charleston, WV on the afternoon or evening of June 4th to be shuttled to Marmet, WV. Our Orientation Day will begin the following morning in Marmet, WV–it is critical that participants attend this Orientation Day in order for us to have a safe and effective march. Marchers will move out Monday morning and, over the next five days, march 50 miles to the town of Blair, WV, arriving on June 10th. The following morning, on June 11th, The Rally and Day of Action will begin in Blair. Shuttles will be available to take participants back to their vehicles in Charleston once the event is over.

• Register for the March
• March Event Schedule
• Things You Should Know for the March

2) Attend just the Rally and Day of Action

Participants that plan to attend just The Rally and Day of Action should arrive in Logan, WV on the morning of Friday June 10th if they are able. Beginning at 1pm on June 10th, we will be hosting a Training Day in Logan, WV so that participants will be prepared for the events the following day. If you need to arrive on the evening of June 9th, or the morning of June 11th, accommodations will be available. Again, we strongly encourage those that are able to attend the Training Day on the 10th.

• Rally Info

Hope to see you there!

In Egypt, labor and pro-democracy movements used wildcat strikes and direct action to shake the dictatorship's foundations and launch a mass movement. In Appalachia, environmental, student and anti-MTR movements have been using direct action to shake the coal industry's foundations and launch a mass movement.

Gandhi. King. Eastern Europe. Seattle. Latin America. Peopl- powered, non-violent, yet confrontational movements make historical change.

We’re now in the midst of another groundswell of people power. As we’ve seen in Egypt, Tunisia and the U.S. Midwest, peaceful protest and non-violent direct action have led the way.

Now the Appalachian movements for a just, sustainable future and an end to mountaintop removal are flexing their own people-powered muscle. From June 5-11, Appalachia Rising is organizing a march, rally and direct action at Blair Mountain to re-trace the steps of the 1921 miners’ march and the Battle of Blair Mountain. This march, rally and action will be commemorating the 90 year anniversary of that battle.

In 1921, 15,000 miners fighting for the right to unionize fought it out with the coal industry’s gun thugs. It was the 2nd largest armed insurrection in U.S. history (after the Civil War). The miners eventually lost as King Coal collaborated with the federal government to send in federal troops to suppress the uprising. It was the only time in U.S. history that the U.S. military dropped bombs from the air on it’s own people (remind anyone of anything? Qaddafi? anyone?). It’s also the origins of the word “redneck” as the miners wore red bandannas to distinguish themselves from the gun thugs. Eventually the miners laid down their arms as many were World War One veterans and refused to fight their fellow soldiers.

The march on Blair Mountain will include a five-day, 50 mile march (hundreds have already registered), a concert, a rally featuring Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and a non-violent direct action on Blair Mountain itself.

In the past 6 years, we’ve seen a groundswell of bottom-up, Appalachian-led non-violent direct action.These actions have been the building blocks for more bigger and badder actions.

Pre-2005-Appalachians wage a campaign of advocacy, protest and action against coal companies for many years trying to call attention to and end mountaintop removal.

2005- Mountain Justice has its first camp and summer of actions against mountaintop removal. Hundreds of Appalachians, students and activists participate. Highlights include a civil disobedience at Marsh Fork Elementary and a march through Richmond, VA to arch coal criminal Massey Energy’s HQ.

2006- Mountain Justice continues their campaign. This includes a mass action organized by Earth First! and Rising Tide North America at the Clinch River coal plant in Carbo, VA.

2007- Mountain Justice Spring Break has their first camp. The camp ends with an action at West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin’s offices where over a dozen are arrested.

2008- Appalachian residents, Blue Ridge Earth First!, Mountain Justice, Rainforest Action Network and others take numerous actions against a Dominion coal plant in Wise County, VA that is under construction. These actions include blockades at Dominion’s HQ in Richmond, VA and a blockade at the plant itself.

2009-2010- Climate Ground Zero launches a direct action campaign against mountaintop removal in southern WV. Over 100 are arrested in dozens of road blockades, tree-sits, mass sit-ins and more.

2009-2010- Rainforest Action Network launches a campaign to end mountaintop removal against the EPA and banks such as Chase and PNC. Actions include lockdowns and sit-ins at EPA offices.

2010- Appalachia Rising organizes the largest mass action on mountaintop removal to date. Over 2,000 march through the streets of Washington D.C. to the White House where over 120 are arrested in peaceful civil disobedience.

2011- A group of Kentucky writers, students and activists, including noted writer-farmer Wendell Berry, stage a sit-in at Kentucky Gov. Steve Breshear’s office in Frankfurt over his complicity in the destruction of eastern Kentucky’s mountains by the coal industry.

This movement will succeed and we are winning.

Join us at Blair Mountain as we add another nail in mountaintop removal’s coffin.

This morning I attended PNC bank’s shareholder meeting. I tend to find these events extremely self-congratulating, and today was no exception. We were treated to announcements about how (relatively) well the bank has been performing financially and the titles and awards that the bank has received this year, all before a video extolling PNC’s core values.

Two of those values stood out to me: “Commitment to community” and “Quality of life”. This was exactly what  I came to talk about. When my opportunity came, I stepped up to the mic to introduce myself as a shareholder and explain RAN’s campaign for PNC to end their financing of mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining. I asked CEO James Rohr to report on the impacts of the bank’s 2010 policy on MTR, and I introduced my friend, Amber Whittington, who accompanied me to the meeting.

Amber is 21 and lives in the belly of the Coal River Valley, West Virginia, next to Kayford mountain and in between two MTR mines: one operated by Massey Energy, the other by Patriot Coal. Amber spoke to the meeting about the impacts these mines have on her daily life, about how her tapwater runs orange due to the toxic heavy metals that leech from the neighboring mines, and about how she has to drive 45 minutes to obtain clean and safe drinking water from the town of Beckley.

So how did James Rohr respond to this? He replied that he considers himself and PNC to be “green,” and to demonstrate this green-ness he referenced the LEED Platinum PNC offices that this meeting was taking place in. He told us that PNC had “significantly reduced its exposure to MTR,” that the bank “no longer provided finance for MTR projects” or for “companies who primarily practice MTR extraction,” but that there were still some companies PNC had dealings with who practice a limited amount of MTR. His justification for financing these companies is the jobs these companies provide.

The next shareholder to speak introduced herself as a quaker and listed the reasons that she too is concerned about PNC and MTR, before urging the bank to adopt a full-sector exclusion. Mr Rohr responded by acknowledging the bank’s deep historical connections to the quaker movement. Another shareholder, a school teacher, praised PNC’s  flagship headstart educational program and requested this support be extended to Appalachian childhood — by fully getting out of MTR.

In less than one hour the meeting was over, and a small crowd of shareholders gathered around Amber to express support for her. She and I were then invited to meet with a senior executive to continue our conversation, where we challenged the myth of MTR “job-creation” and advocated that PNC shift financing to support renewable energy development in Appalachia, to create the types of jobs that young people in Appalachia like Amber actually want the opportunity to do.

My impression was that PNC was keen to listen, I’m hoping that enthusiasm translates into action.

Last week at Power Shift 2011, Rainforest Action Network teamed up with over a hundred youth to take the streets of Washington D.C. and speak a little truth to Wall Street’s power.

Banks like Citi and PNC remain some of the biggest funders of mountaintop removal coal mining and tar sand extraction and pipeline projects in North America.

The march weaved through D.C.’s Chinatown business district to branches of Citi (coal & tar sands funder) and PNC (mountaintop removal coal mining funder) near the DC Convention Center.

The march was so large, we took over two lanes of traffic.

At Citi, we decorated their offices and ATMs with “global warming crime scene” tape and stickers about funding coal and tar sands. At PNC, we tried to deliver a petition but they got wind of our approach and closed their offices with a sign “Closed due to an emergency situation.”

Yeah, PNC, there is an “emergency situation:” It’s called climate change and you’re bankrolling it.

This fight is happening in the hills and hollers of Appalachia.

For five years, Mountain Justice has built an infrastructure to fight mountaintop removal in Appalachia with training camps, campaign houses and long term campaigns aimed at shutting down the coal industry’s economic grip on the region.  On May 20-27, Mountain Justice is hosting their annual camp to continue to build this movement. If you want to take action and shut down the oppressive coal industry, join them in Letcher, KY.

Here’s the full announcement and details from Mountain Justice:

Mountain Justice training camp 2011!
Letcher County, Kentucky
May 20^th – 27^th

Registration will be open soon!

As the campaign to stop mountaintop removal gains national awareness, we have more and more opportunities for folks to help out. We’ve got a job for every interest, skill set and time commitment! We invite you to spend the summer working in Appalachia with one of our ally groups or to work with us in your hometown throughout the year!

Mountain Justice training camp is an opportunity for veteran and novice activists to build the skills and vision needed to abolish mountaintop removal and build vibrant, healthy, self-reliant communities. We ask that you attend camp with the intention of using these skills either working with allies in Appalachia or working on this issue in your hometown. The registration process will help you develop a plan for how you will use this training. Training camp is a time for training, strategizing, bonding, service and action for people living both within and outside of the Appalachia, for people of all sex and genders, for people of all races, for youth and elders, and anyone in between.

Realizing that we ought to model independence from coal, camp will be off the grid this year!

We’re so excited to be off the grid, but for Mountain Justice, a sustainable community is more than some solar panels and rainwater barrels. It’s about the people that defend what they love, the people who work to create sustainable communities, and the nourishing relationships between them. Our focus on sustainability will mean building a strong and diverse organizing community that works on both resistance and solutions.

Trainings and Discussions

This year camp will feature themed training days. Themes will include, Community Organizing, Non-Violent Direct Action, Science and SMCRA, and Alternative Economies. Check back for more information about the schedule.  Some workshops being covered will include:

• community organizing
• air and water monitoring
• administrative and legal avenues to stop MTR
• media work
• direct action and civil resistance
• alternative economies
• sustainable livelihoods
• and a lot more!

Trainings will be collaborative as possible, so come open minded and willing to actively participate. If you want to facilitate a workshop, please let us know! Our hope is to continue to build a broad community to sustain, guide and nourish us as we all continue working to abolish surface mining and rebuild economically self-sufficient communities in Appalachia.

No community is sustainable without fun, dancing, bonfires and Appalachian mountain music! So bring your instruments, dancing shoes and high spirits, we’ll be celebrating the ways of life we’re fighting to preserve!

Join Us for a Summer of Mountain Justice

Going to Powershift?

Want to stop Big Coal and Big Oil?

Aren’t you tired of how Wall Street literally gets away with murder?

Then put a little “action” in your life with Rainforest Action Network (action is our middle name, after all.)

Please join RAN and friends on Saturday April 16^th at 1:00pm outside the DC Convention Center (you can RSVP on Facebook). We’ll lead a “Tour of Shame” through the surrounding business district and take creative direct action against  financiers of dirty energy companies like Arch Coal, Peabody Energy, ExxonMobil, and the coal companies responsible for the destruction of Appalachia’s mountains.

Just recently, Portland Rising Tide and 100 Powershift students did the same thing at Bank of America and Wells Fargo branches in downtown Portland.

Looks like fun, doesn’t it?

Here’s the official invite if you want to tell your friends:

Dirty Energy is Over, Fund the Future

Join Us and Put Wall Street on Notice: No More Money for Dirty Coal and Tar Sands

Join our campaign to stop the financing of coal and tar sands by Wall Street. Coal and tar sands are the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in North America — causing catastrophic climate change, poisoning communities with toxic pollutants and destroying eco-systems with destructive extraction.

Join Rainforest Action Network for our banks “Tour of Shame” as we call out the corporate finance behind dirty coal and oil extraction

WHEN: Saturday, April 16th at 1pm

WHERE: Meet in front of the DC Convention Center at 7th and Mt. Vernon NW

CONTACT: Scott at sparkin@ran.org; 415-235-0596

Big Banks — Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, PNC Bank and Morgan Stanley — raise billions of dollars for the fossil fuel industry every year. It’s time for Wall Street to take responsibility in how their investments affect public health and the climate.

Join us on Saturday afternoon and demand a transition in energy financing from dirty coal to clean energy solutions like wind and solar.

Rainforest Action Network and the Sierra Club released the 2011 Mountaintop Removal Report Card today. The report card exposes relationships between 10 of the biggest banks in the world and the top companies practicing mountaintop removal mining in central Appalachia.

Some of the findings:

• Since January 2010, Bank of America, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, GE Capital, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, PNC, UBS and Wells Fargo together provided more than $2.5 billion in loans and bonds to MTR companies.
• The top three financiers of MTR are PNC, Citi and UBS.
• Of the 10 banks in the report, Wells Fargo and Credit Suisse have the strongest MTR policies.

Since 2010′s MTR report card was released last spring, five banks released policies addressing mountaintop removal: JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, PNC, UBS and Credit Suisse. The MTR report card has served as an excellent tool for RAN to engage with executives at the biggest banks and help them move away from financing the devastating practice of mountaintop removal.

We hope that this year’s report will continue to pressure the biggest financiers of mountaintop removal to develop meaningful policies limiting their exposure to MTR mining companies, and to push banks with existing policies to make them stronger. You can send a wake-up call to banks and call on them to stop funding the horrendously destructive practice of mountaintop removal by sending them our new video, “Mountaintop Removal: An American Tragedy,” which shows exactly what they’re bankrolling.