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Larry lives in one of the communities suffering from the ongoing mountaintop removal coal mining practices where the tops of the beautiful Appalachian mountains are literally being blown off and dumped into valleys and streams so that big coal companies can extract small quantities of coal. He's been fighting this issue for 25 years, and has suffered a lot as a result.
This is of great concern to me for several reasons.
One reason is that my tax dollars and your tax dollars are subsidizing these coal companies.
Another reason is that we are burning this coal, while the people in these coal mining communities are dying in cancer clusters and sending their kids to an elementary school within 200 yards of toxic coal slurry. Here in Washington State, we burn less coal than many other states but we still burn some, new coal plant proposals keep cropping up, and when we have a drought, we burn more coal.
Over 50% of the coal from Appalachia is being exported to China and other places. Coal dust from China is collecting on transmitters in California, Oregon and Washington State. This was reported on the front page of the New York Times a couple of years ago.
"Pollution From Chinese Coal Casts a Global Shadow"
Here is a another main concern of mine. My friends in Appalachia are not being represented by their elected officials, their public servants, their supposed 'representatives'. This is a problem we share here in Washington State, and a problem that people are finding across the country. This is taxation without representation, and it is a wide-ranging problem.
When we are not being represented by those whose salaries (and health benefits) we pay to act in our best interests, I believe we need to band together and represent each other.
The government in West Virginia is in bed with the coal mining industry. Indeed, the governor was a coal broker - the old revolving door swings again. The government doesn't have any incentive to allow alternative jobs, or sustainable economic opportunities, into the region - indeed, it has incentives not to, and so the old paradigm of jobs vs. environment rages on in the beautiful while disappearing mountains of Appalachia. There are still well-paid miners defending their jobs and harassing those who are trying to stop the mountaintop removal mining.
Apparently, some of the churches also receive donations from the coal industry so they are not speaking out about the ethics of a couple of large corporations destroying people's homes, ecology and health.
I live on the side of a mountain. I'm lucky there's no coal in it. If someone was blasting the top off the mountain next to my home, I would want my neighbors (locally and across the country) to speak up for me.
The way I see it, we are 300 million neighbors in this country. Even if we are really split down the middle politically, that means we still have 150 million people to help support us.
Ending coal and switching to sustainable, renewable forms of energy is for the good of everyone and the health of our country, even if some people whose incomes are tied to the dirty, costly fuel can't see that now.
I spoke with Larry a couple of days ago, and he suggested a couple of things we can all do to help end the grasp of the big coal industry on our energy supply, and the grasp on Americans who lack the political clout to stop corporations from destroying their lands and poisoning their populations.
On June 23, Larry was arrested on a charge of interrupting traffic flow to Massey Coal's land.
"Coal River Mountain Action"
"Why I Was Arrested in Coal River, West Virginia" (by Daryl Hannah)
In late September/early October, Larry will be going to court with Dr. James Hansen (of NASA's Goddard Institute at Columbia University) and the actress Daryl Hannah.
Larry will probably be in jail for a while because he doesn't intend to pay the fine. He needs to know there are people across the country who understand the validity of what he's trying to do. As Larry says, he didn't do anything to incite or embarrass anybody - he was just trying to bring attention to the kids dying from slurry-related illnesses.
We can help by making people aware of Larry's situation, and that he is going to court with Hansen and Hannah. He could use some help on the legal expenses. His nonprofit organization is Keeper of the Mountains. The website is: http://mountainkeeper.org/
Each of us can write a Letter to the Editor of The Charleston Gazette with our opinions of what's happening in West Virginia.
Another important thing, which MoveOn sent an email about this week, is to urge congress to protect the Clean Water Act. Efforts to weaken the Clean Water Act could open the door for more coal mining pollution being dumped into the water and seeping into the ground water.
We hoped these problems, which got worse under the Bush administration, would be resolved under the Obama administration. That has not happened, and we find ourselves still pleading with an astonishingly out of touch congress even to preserve the Clean Water Act.
Election reform is desperately needed in our country. And I believe standing up for our neighbors, whether they're 3 miles or 3,000 miles away, is necessary, because if our 'representatives' in congress won't stand up for us, we need to stand up for each other.
Please bring up this situation with your spiritual/religious leaders. Ask them and your congregations to speak out against mountaintop removal coal mining and to put pressure on their sister congregations in Appalachia to do the same.
People are going to church but worshipping money. This is something worth a very hard look. We can't come clean with ourselves if we're covered in coal soot and dirty money.
Larry asks, "Why use something that kills people?" Good question. Let's see...it must have to do with someone making a lot of money!
Coal is like mercury - it's fine as along as you leave it in the ground. Like nuclear energy, when you mine or burn coal, you have to deal with the waste of it.
Native Americans say that coal is the lungs of the Earth and those that extract it will die of it. Unfortunately, it is not only those directly extracting it that are dying and will die. Coal is like the bones in the Earth in sacred burial places - it is not meant to be disturbed.
Why are we still using coal? It's inefficient and wasteful in many ways. Simple. This is about profit, not about energy. It takes 95 gallons of water for every ton of coal - then the waste water gets dumped and the pollution gets into the ground water. It is killing people. Murder is murder, whether it's committed fast or slowly. And nobody is being held accountable for it.
Larry says there's a war going on in West Virginia. There is a video of Massey Coal employees harassing people at this year's July 4 celebration on Larry's property which you can see at: www.patchworkfilms.com(there's a link on the right that says "Watch video on YouTube" - "Invasion of the Coal Thugs"). Apparently, about 20 Massey workers got drunk and came over to Larry's land, throwing beer cans, swearing at people, etc.
We have to stand up to the bullies in our country.
Thanks so much for reading this, and for taking any of the suggested actions that you can.
In Peace,
Shar
Here is a P.S. to the email I sent you earlier today.
Another way you can help is to show the DVD of the film "Kilowatt Ours" in your community and have a discussion and action following the film. This is an excellent film about where we need to go with energy. Larry Gibson is featured in the film. The running time is 55 minutes. You can purchase the DVD and learn about hosting a screening here:
http://www.kilowattours.org/watch.php
Alternatively, you can purchase it on Amazon used for $10.99 here:
Kilowatt Ours: A Plan to Re-Energize America
Or ask your local public library to order the DVD if it doesn't already have it.
I would like the judge at Larry's trial this fall to receive bags of letters in support of Larry. If I can get my act together financially, I would like to be sitting in the court room at his trial, in support and as a witness to the proceedings. if I can't do that, at least I can send a letter of support.
Here are two links I just received from a friend to whom I sent my initial email early this morning:
You mentioned that "coal is like mercury" ... actually, waste coal IS mercury. Really nasty stuff. See:
"Burning Waste Coal is Much More Polluting than Burning Coal".
Here is an important article about burning coal:
"Fred's Footprint: The return of killer coal"
I'm thinking of starting a Google group for people on my list to share information and have discussions about mountaintop removal mining and the ethics of energy in general. For instance, did you know that in Florida, they sunniest state in the country, businesses are very limited in the amount of energy they can generate themselves by putting solar panels on their roofs? Why should they be limited in producing sustainable energy? This is one such topic that could be discussed and an action taken as a group. Here's another: Have you heard of Concentrating Solar Power, a solar technology that has begun to replace coal plants?
If you would like to be a member of such an online discussion group, please let me know.
Many thanks again for any help you can provide.
Mountaintop removal coal mining has got to stop. Coal has been destroying people's health and lives in our country for generations, and it has gotten worse, not better, in recent years. The more we start using alternative forms of energy, the less incentive there will be for coal mining and profiting from this toxic fossil fuel. Fossil fuels are not appropriate for the 21st century. It's time to fix this situation and finally act like we've entered a new millennium, with a higher consciousness, an improved sense of ethics, and real compassion.
Here is Larry's website once again: http://www.mountainkeeper.org/
If we are to take back our country from huge corporations running our government, we have to act as a national community of citizens, in my opinion.
All best wishes, and in peace,
Sharon
* Sharon's email was lightly edited and links and references added by Michael Hurwicz.
The word "congress" was deliberately left un-capitalized, despite the fact that this is technically incorrect. "I don't think they deserve it" says Sharon.
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