Category Archives: health
WV Anti-Mountaintop Removal and Fracking Activists Unite for First Joint Capitol Rally Ever
The movement against extreme energy and extraction in Appalachia is uniting like never before. This morning, over a hundred coalfield and gasfield activists and youth allies from across the country stormed the Capitol building in Charleston, WV, and spoke clearly and in one voice against the industries which are poisoning communities. The protest started out in [...]
Beyond Mountaintop Removal & Fracking: United for the Future of W.Va.
Join us this Friday in Charleston for a rally to demand a bright future for West Virginia – not one that caters to the destruction of our mountains and fracking of our waters. Our state is in a critical moment. We have a choice. We can double down on destructive and declining coal industry and [...]
W.Va., Black Mesa: stories of struggle and resistance, visions for future
Dustin Steele and Adam Hall of West Virginia and Fern Benally and Don Yellowman of the Navajo Nation of Arizona speak at length about living in the shadow of coal mining, their first-hand experiences with destructive corporate practices, the importance of community empowerment, the role of education and the fight to maintain self-determination and a [...]
Release: Largest MTR mine shut down!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 28, 2012 Contact: Charles Suggs, 304-449-NVDA (6832), [email protected] Talking Points document: http://rampscampaign.org/key-messages-of-mountain-mobilization/ “Mountain Mobilization” shuts down Lincoln Co. strip mine Call for end to strip mining and a just transition for the region’s families Charleston, W.Va.—More than 50 protesters affiliated with the R.A.M.P.S. Campaign have walked onto Patriot Coal’s Hobet mine [...]
Key messages of Mountain Mobilization
The government has failed to protect Appalachian communities by aiding and abetting the coal industry in evading environmental and mine safety protections. The result of this government failure is shattered health, widespread environmental destruction, and unemployment and economic depression throughout Appalachia. It is time for the government and the coal industry to end strip mining, [...]
Pro-Mountain Activists Block MTR Haul Road; Board Barge; Arrests Made
Five arrested blocking coal barge shipment with $10k bail, none arrested blocking haul road EPA, DEP, USGS make surprise visit to Kayford Mountain and haul road blockade FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 24 May 2012 Contact: Robert Livingston, 304.731.1740 http://action.mountainjustice.org Twitter: @CoalIsFilthy UPDATE: Joseph, Loeb and MacDougal were charged with trespass asked to leave and obstruction, both [...]
Pro-mountain activists board coal barge and blockade Kayford strip mine haul road
Follow coverage at http://action.mountainjustice.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, May 24, 2012 Contact: Robert Livingston 304.731.1740 http://action.mountainjustice.org Note: Photos available within 1 – 2 hours. KAYFORD, W.Va. –Mountain Justice and RAMPS activists blocked coal transport in two locations Thursday morning protesting mountaintop removal. Five boarded a barge on the Kanawha River near Chelyan, with a large banner that read “Coal leaves, [...]
Squirrel’s Pretrial
I was immensely disheartened to hear the magistrate’s flat-out denial of my lawyer’s request that our witnesses be allowed to testify on my behalf. During the past few weeks, I had been strengthened and moved by the willingness of so many people to make personal sacrifices to testify in my trial. Some of the witnesses [...]
Higher Cancer Rates Near Mountaintop Removal Sites
A study released this week in the Journal of Community Health provides yet more evidence linking mountaintop removal mining to severe health impacts. The study, “Self-Reported Cancer Rates in Two Rural Areas of West Virginia with and Without Mountaintop Coal Mining,” was based on door-to-door interviews conducted in the Coal River Valley (has Mountaintop Removal) [...]