California Dreamin’ About Ending Mountaintop Removal

Executive Director Willa Mays (top), Director of Programs Matt Wasson (middle) and Director of Development and Communications Sandra Diaz (bottom) talk with attendees to 2010 Bioneers about the work of Appalachian Voices. View more photos and download larger resolution versions

This past weekend, Appalachian Voices took the message of “they’re blowing up our mountains, and there oughta be a law” to the premier environmental event of the year, the Bioneers conference. The main conference takes place in San Rafael, Ca, with several locations that “beam” this conference across the nation through a live video stream. With a multimedia Google Earth presentation that highlights both the problem of and the solution to mountaintop removal, we engaged participants, who hailed from all over the country, in why we need them to join the national movement to end mountaintop removal.

It was a great testament to the strength of our movement that many conference-goers were already familiar with the problem of mountaintop removal. We then educated them on the solution- making mountaintop removal illegal through an act of Congress. After signing a pledge to help end mountaintop removal, many left the booth adorned with “I Heart Mountains” buttons and temporary tattoos to help further spread the word.

Appalachian Voices wasn’t the only one to bring this important message to Bioneers. James Hansen, top climate scientist at NASA whose has been actively protesting mountaintop removal, spoke to the issue, as well Bioneers board member David Orr in his panel on climate change.

The documentary, Your Environmental Road Trip (YERT, showed at Bioneers, highlighted Larry Gibson, a leader in the movement to end mountaintop removal.

The Bioneers conference is an event meant to inspire and motivate people to become agents of change for the planet. We were glad to demonstrate that the campaign to end mountaintop removal is one of the most important movements that all in attendance should join.

About Sandra Diaz

With Colombian roots, a Philadelphia, Pa.-childhood, and more than a decade in Florida before joining Appalachian Voices, Sandra served as AV's North Carolina campaign coordinator and driving force behind the Red, White & Water campaign from 2007 to 2013.