Mountaintop Removal Mining Protests in West Virginia

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 9, 2011
12:35 PM

CONTACT: Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA)

Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167

Mountaintop Removal Mining Protests in West Virginia

WASHINGTON - June 9 - Hundreds of people are marching towards Blair Mountain in West Virginia to protest mountaintop removal mining. The march will culminate Saturday with a rally featuring Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Emmylou Harris, among others. You can follow the march at marchonblairmountain.org   

The documentary “The Last Mountain,” which examines the threat mountaintop removal mining poses to the environment, has just been released. Watch the trailer.

BO WEBB, webb.bo at gmail.com
Webb is a member of the Coal River Mountain Watch and the co-founder of Mountain Justice. He said today: “Mountaintop removal is a serious threat to America’s water supply. It eliminates jobs, it eliminates entire mountain communities, and I believe that mountaintop removal mining is killing real people. In fact, studies show the death rates in communities in coal mining regions are higher than in non-coal mining regions. In the interest of public health and justice, it is the patriotic duty of every member of Congress to end this horrific crime.”

BOB KINCAID, bobkincaid at gmail.com
Kincaid is board president of Coal River Mountain Watch. He said today: “Hundreds of activists back in Appalachia are marching along the route taken 90 years ago by working people standing up for their homes, families, and communities against an oppressive industry. That march culminated in the Battle of Blair Mountain, when the industry used guns, bombs, and the power of the United States government itself to stifle dissent. That historic site, like hundreds of America’s oldest mountains, is slated for destruction. Ninety years later, the coal industry, in conjunction with miners’ union leadership, routinely uses hostile, threatening language to describe people of good will merely trying to save their homes and their heritage. We call upon the coal industry and its partners in Congress to stop spreading falsehoods about the good work of the Environmental Protection Agency and to command their employees and members not to attack or otherwise molest a peaceful march founded in principles of non-violence.” http://earthjustice.org/news/press/2011/voices-of-appalachia-call-for-ab...

Kennedy was recently on the Colbert Report.

###

A nationwide consortium, the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) represents an unprecedented effort to bring other voices to the mass-media table often dominated by a few major think tanks. IPA works to broaden public discourse in mainstream media, while building communication with alternative media outlets and grassroots activists.

Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) Links:

Source URL: http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2011/06/09-3

 

Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218.  Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net

 

"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs