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darlingswillbekilled.blogspot.com
Friday, July 24, 2009
Dispatch From the West Virginia Coalfields
“Mountaintop removal/valley fill is a mining practice where the tops of mountains are removed, exposing the seams of coal. Mountaintop removal can involve removing 500 feet or more of the summit to get at buried seams of coal. The earth from the mountaintop is then dumped in the neighboring valleys.”
-U.S. Environmental Protection (ha!) Agency
I've spent the past couple of weeks in the Coal River Valley of Southern, West Virginia- the front lines in the fight against mountaintop removal mining, a form of strip mining currently devastating the mountains, forests, waterways and livelihoods of Appalachia. While my daily tasks are small- writing a press release here, doing some legislative research there, washing dishes and preparing meals- they contribute to keeping on the ground campaigns up and running. Resistance in the coalfields is locally rooted and longstanding- it follows in the footsteps of 20th labor struggles like Paint Creek-Cabin Creek and the Battle of Blair Mountain (the largest armed uprising in American history).
Resources
If you want basic information about the processes, environmental effects of and legal responses (or lack of responses) to MTR, be sure to check out I Love Mountains.
Climate Ground Zero covers the action campaign. The blog will give you information on the badass actions and corrupt legal system, as well as photographs/videos/multimedia.
Aurora Lights' Journey Up Coal River is an educational tool that includes maps, multimedia and articles about the history of and organizing in the Coal River Valley.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Dispatch From the West Virginia Coalfields
“Mountaintop removal/valley fill is a mining practice where the tops of mountains are removed, exposing the seams of coal. Mountaintop removal can involve removing 500 feet or more of the summit to get at buried seams of coal. The earth from the mountaintop is then dumped in the neighboring valleys.”
-U.S. Environmental Protection (ha!) Agency
I've spent the past couple of weeks in the Coal River Valley of Southern, West Virginia- the front lines in the fight against mountaintop removal mining, a form of strip mining currently devastating the mountains, forests, waterways and livelihoods of Appalachia. While my daily tasks are small- writing a press release here, doing some legislative research there, washing dishes and preparing meals- they contribute to keeping on the ground campaigns up and running. Resistance in the coalfields is locally rooted and longstanding- it follows in the footsteps of 20th labor struggles like Paint Creek-Cabin Creek and the Battle of Blair Mountain (the largest armed uprising in American history).
Resources
If you want basic information about the processes, environmental effects of and legal responses (or lack of responses) to MTR, be sure to check out I Love Mountains.
Climate Ground Zero covers the action campaign. The blog will give you information on the badass actions and corrupt legal system, as well as photographs/videos/multimedia.
Aurora Lights' Journey Up Coal River is an educational tool that includes maps, multimedia and articles about the history of and organizing in the Coal River Valley.