This weekend people from Mason will be joining other folks from the Capitol region on a trip to central Appalachia. Specifically they will be traveling to Kayford, West Virginia, in the heart of the Appalachian coalfields. The purpose of the trip is twofold: to learn about and see the devastation caused by mountaintop removal firsthand and to celebrate Appalachian culture that is under siege from it.
The plan is to travel west on Friday afternoon, stopping at the Little Grill Collective in Harrisonburg for dinner. From there, the group will head into West Virginia and camp on Friday night. Saturday morning they will tour mountaintop removal sites and hear stories from coalfield residents that have been directly impacted by it. Saturday afternoon and evening will be spent at the Changing of the Leaves Festival on Kayford Mountain. The event, hosted by well-known anti-mountaintop removal crusader Larry Gibson, promises live music, a potluck dinner, and new friendships.
According to the website for Keepers of the Mountains Foundation Larry’s family has been living on Kayford mountain since the 1700's. Coal companies began stripping the mountain in 1986 and Larry has been fighting for his land ever since. Mason’s Environmental Action Group has been active in the struggle against mountaintop removal, educating the Mason community about the
On Sunday morning the group will head back to suburbia but not before stopping at Virginia Safari Park for some fun with animals.
All-in-all, the weekend promises to be a great time for all that attend. Although this is not an official Mason trip, anyone interested in attending is encouraged to send an email to gmueag@gmail.com for more information or check out the Facebook event: Awesome Appalachia Weekend. For people that would like to learn more about mountaintop removal and how to join the fight against it but already have plans for this weekend, there is another, similar event on October 22nd through 24th also on Kayford Mountain: Mountain Justice Fall Summit. Mason will definitely have a presence at this event as well so be on the lookout for more information which will be coming soon.
See a video of Larry Gibson from the recent Voices of the Mountains conference (which was part of Appalachia Rising):
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Obama Does the Right Thing: Solar Power to Return to White House
EaEarly Tuesday morning news broke that solar power will be returning to the White House. According to the AP, the panels will provide both hot water and electricity for the most famous residence in the country. This is good news for environmentalists and clean energy advocates that have been pushing Obama to reinstall the solar panels that were put on the White House by Jimmy Carter and subsequently taken down by Reagan.
Last month, organizers led by environmental author and activist Bill McKibben (who spoke at this year’s Fall for the Book) brought one of the original panels that graced the White House roof some 30 years ago to Washington with the request that Obama led the way in creating a clean energy economy by reinstalling the panel. At the time, officials from the White House denied the request.
This news comes on the heels of an announcement made last week by the White House that, “a company called BrightSource plans to break ground this month on a new, revolutionary type of solar power plant [in California]. This will put about 1,000 people to work building the facility. And once completed, it will power up to 140,000 homes, making it the largest such plant in the world.” Obama takes credit for this step toward creating a clean energy economy claiming that his administration’s clean energy incentives made this project possible.
The AP reports that “the plans will be formally announced later Tuesday by White House Council on Environmental Quality Chairwoman Nancy Sutley and Energy Secretary Steven Chu."
See a video of the announcement: See"
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Last month, organizers led by environmental author and activist Bill McKibben (who spoke at this year’s Fall for the Book) brought one of the original panels that graced the White House roof some 30 years ago to Washington with the request that Obama led the way in creating a clean energy economy by reinstalling the panel. At the time, officials from the White House denied the request.
This news comes on the heels of an announcement made last week by the White House that, “a company called BrightSource plans to break ground this month on a new, revolutionary type of solar power plant [in California]. This will put about 1,000 people to work building the facility. And once completed, it will power up to 140,000 homes, making it the largest such plant in the world.” Obama takes credit for this step toward creating a clean energy economy claiming that his administration’s clean energy incentives made this project possible.
The AP reports that “the plans will be formally announced later Tuesday by White House Council on Environmental Quality Chairwoman Nancy Sutley and Energy Secretary Steven Chu."
See a video of the announcement: See"
See
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Monday, October 4, 2010
Mountaintop removal: Students rally to help Appalachia
By Holly Smucker
The piece originally appeared in Broadside, George Mason University's student newspaper, on Monday, October 4, 2010.
On Monday, September 27th more than 2,000 people from all over the nation gathered in Washington, DC to protest mountaintop removal in a movement called Appalachia Rising. Preceding Monday’s events there was a two-day conference held at Georgetown University consisting of workshops, speakers, and live music preparing participants for the day of action. Several Mason students from the Environmental Action Group attended the conference and march. Three students, Emily Miles, Jason Von Kundra, and myself, along with more than 100 other people got arrested while trying to bring attention to the issue.
Occurring specifically in the Appalachian Mountains, mountaintop removal (MTR) is an extremely destructive form of strip mining where coal companies clear-cut the forests on mountaintops then blow them up with explosives to get to the coal that lies underneath. The solid debris from this is then dumped into the valleys burying the forest and streams. The liquid waste from coal washing is stored in slurry impoundments which contain heavy metals that are toxic to human health. These impoundments have frequently leaked into the streams and into ground water, harming and depleting the indigenous species. Since many of the residents of Appalachia depend on wells for their drinking water, families throughout the region can’t drink the water from their taps. Many people have died, or have been become extremely ill from the combination of polluted water and coal ash disposal.
Several different workshops were offered at the conference over the weekend, including sessions on coal ash, climate change, post-mined land use, and mono-economies. Unable to attend them all, I chose to attend sessions on natural gas hydrofracking, direct action, and non-violence trainings. In the hydrofracking session we discussed what it is, how it’s done, and the effects it has on the environment. Hydraulic fracturing is a process of fracturing rock in order to release the natural gas within the shale formation. While not directly related to MTR, natural gas hydrofracking is still an environmental crisis because it too contaminates ground water. In the other two sessions we debated on what the best form of direct action is and were shown how to act when encountering the police during Monday’s protest.
At the protest I was joined by a vast array of people coming from all over the US and even Canada. Many residents from the Appalachian Mountains spoke to us about their first-hand experiences with MTR and lead the march to the White House. Starting at Freedom Plaza, we marched through the streets of DC to the Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters where we demanded they “do their job” by enforcing the Clean Water Act. Next we stopped and chanted outside PNC Bank because they fund MTR projects. The march ended at Lafayette Park where several Appalachian residents spoke a few last encouraging words before those who chose to risk arrest headed toward the White House.
My friends, Lianne Roe and Allison Rutledge, who are also Mason students that participated in Appalachia Rising, were there supporting me at the White House on the other side of the police tape. Deeply concerned about MTR, Lianne told me, “I was willing to participate for three entire days and in the rain because I love the mountains. My family is from the region and we're at risk health-wise due to valley fills and sub-standard coal ash disposal practices. It simply isn't right that the most bio-diverse, beautiful, and environmentally essential places in our country are being destroyed.” Allison, also very passionate about the issue, asserts “There are people out there who don't have clean drinking water because of it [MTR]. More than 500 mountains have already been obliterated and over 2,000 miles of streams have been buried forever. This has to be stopped and it’s why I to continue the fight.”
Helping to end mountaintop removal is one of the Environmental Action Group’s priorities this year. They will be taking several trips to Appalachia in October to see the devastation caused by MTR first-hand. To learn more or to get involved, send an email to gmueag@gmail.com or visit www.gmu.edu/org/environment
Over 100 people got arrested at the White House for protesting against mountaintop removal.
Photo copyright Lauren Peery
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Mason Students Risk Freedom to End Mountaintop Removal
For the past three days members of Mason’s Environmental Action Group attended Appalachia Rising, an event designed to galvanize people in the fight against mountaintop removal. According to the event’s organizers it was “an unprecedented gathering of Appalachian people and their allies in the movement to abolish all forms of surface mining”. The weekend featured workshops, speakers, and live music all focused on ending the environmental and human health catastrophe that is mountaintop removal coal mining
The event culminated on Monday with a rally, march around downtown D.C., and a protest at the White House with more than 2000 people, including a contingent from the EAG. In order to bring attention to the issue, over 100 people intentionally got arrested for non-violent, civil disobedience, including three Mason students.
Holly Smucker, a first-year music education major was one of those that got arrested. According to Smucker, “Mountaintop Removal is an awful practice that is not only destroying the mountains, but polluting the water and killing the citizens of Appalachia. Our message yesterday to the EPA and to Obama needed to be voiced loud and clear: we weren’t going to move until they abolished mountaintop removal. In fact, if they hadn’t arrested us we might have still been out there square dancing and chanting.”
Allison Rutledge attended all three days of Appalachia Rising but did not get arrested on Monday. That said, she is equally passionate about the issue, “Mountaintop removal is an extremely destructive and devastating practice. It not only destroys mountains but entire communities as well. There are people out there who don't have clean drinking water because of it. More than 500 mountains have already been obliterated and over 2000 miles of streams have been buried forever. This has to be stopped and it’s why I to continue the fight.”
See photos from the protest below.
Check out more coverage of the rally and protest:
NPR
CNN
Washington Post
WYMT Television
Learn more about mountaintop removal and what you can do to help:
Join the EAG in their efforts to end mountaintop removal and other environmental initiatives:
All photos copyright Lauren Peery.
Holly Smucker
Jason Von Kundra
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Appalachia Rising: A Movement to Abolish Mountaintop Removal
This piece appeared in the September 20th issue of Broadside in the GMU Environmental Action Group's weekly column, the Mason Ecosphere.
From September 25th through the 27th members of the Environmental Action Group (EAG) will be participating in Appalachia Rising, a mass mobilization in Washington D.C. to end mountaintop removal (MTR), a devastating form of coal production. Unlike traditional mining that extracts coal from underground, mountaintop removal does exactly what its na
me implies- the tops of mountains are blown off in order to reach the seams of coal underneath. The resulting debris is then pushed into the adjacent valleys, completely burying the streams and rivers located there. The result are enormous areas throughout Appalachia that are almost completely devoid of life. Not only is mountaintop removal an environmental catastrophe, it's also a violation of human rights because it destroys the homelands of coalfield residents and damages their health and lifespans through toxic substances that contaminate their air and water. To date more than 500 mountains in Appalachia have been destroyed, over 2000 miles of streams and rivers have been buried, and an estimated area in excess of 1 million acres has been lies in ruin. The goal of Appalachia Rising is to demand a permanent end to mountaintop removal and a just transition to a clean energy economy in Appalachia.
Mountaintop Removal Site near Appalachia, Virginia. Five EAG members visited this site in Spring 2010. Photo by Christi KruseAppalachia Rising will consist of two major parts. The first part will focus on providing participants with the skills they need to be effective allies in the fight against MTR. On Saturday, informational workshops will be offered on mountaintop removal and other issues related to coal. Topics include coal ash disposal, stopping new coal-fired power plants, coal and climate change, and the human health impacts of mountaintop removal. On Sunday, skills-based workshops will focus on training participants on how to organize to end MTR. For both of these days events will take place at George Washington University starting at 9:00 a.m. The second part of Appalachia Rising will focus on mass mobilization to end mountaintop removal. The plan is to pressure government leaders to eradicate this violation of human rights by holding a rally at Freedom Plaza and then marching to the White House to bring the issue to the attention of President Obama.
Thousands of concerned people are expected to be participating in these events, and we would like for Mason students to join us. You can register to be a part of Appalachia Rising at http://appalachiarising.org/. If you are interested in joining a large group of Mason students that will be participating in Appalachia Rising, please email the Environmental Action Group at gmueag@gmail.com. We hope that you will join us in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet thousands of other environmental and human rights organizers while contributing to the end of one of the most environmentally destructive practices in the the history of this country. We can bring an end to mountaintop removal but we need your help- please join us.
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