Charlotte, NC – On Monday, April 20th, 2009 over 300 citizens took a stand against the proposed Cliffside coal-fired power plant, and 44 were willingly arrested.

The demonstration was organized by a coalition of over a dozen environmental, faith-based and social justice groups, which are calling on Duke Energy and the state of North Carolina to cancel construction of the Cliffside coal power plant expansion. The new unit is predicted to cost $2.4 billion and emit an estimated six million tons of carbon dioxide every year for the next 50 years.

The Cliffside Climate Action is the latest in the growing wave of civil disobedience demanding that the country move away from coal power.

For more information, go to: stopcliffside.org

(reposted from YouTube)

Former Appalachian Voices’ executive director Mary Anne Hitt recently received the University of Tennessee’s Notable Woman award.

The award, given every year since 1995 by the University of Tennessee Commission for Women, honors “a woman whose accomplisments bring distinction to the university.” Margaret Crawford, who serves as chair of the commission, says they were drawn to Hitt, because she “exemplified a person who was committed to the type of work that she was doing as an undergraduate.”

Hitt’s thesis for UT’s College Scholars program, entitled “The Greening of the Big Orange,” examined campus policies concerning recycling, energy use and waste disposal, and has since become the framework for the campus’ sustainability agenda. She also founded the campus’ first environmental group, SPEAK, or Students Promoting Environmental Action in Knoxville. The group continues to make an impact on the campus today.

Since graduating from UT in 1997, Hitt has worked tirelessly to end mountaintop removal in Appalachia. She served as the Executive Director for Appalachian Voices until 2008, while there she partnered with Google Earth Outreach to use satellite images to show the devastating effects of mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia. She now serves as the deputy director of the National Coal Campaign for the Sierra Club.

“Controversial” resolution – introduced by Raleigh County Delegate Sally Susman with 41 Co-Sponsors and strong Raleigh County support – prevented from going to House Floor for a vote

CHARLESTON, WV – Early Wednesday evening, Speaker Rick Thompson and other members of the House Rules Committee decided to prevent H.C.R 52, or the “Resolution Supporting the development of a permanent utility-scale wind farm on Coal River Mountain in Raleigh County, West Virginia,” from being moved out of the Committee and back to the House Floor for a full vote.

Raleigh County Delegate Sally Susman introduced the resolution on Tuesday, March 31st, in recognition of the obvious economic advantage the wind farm would bring to her county in relation to the proposed mountaintop removal operation. At the time it was introduced, the resolution had a total of 6 original sponsors and 35 co-sponsors. Four out of the five Raleigh County delegates had signed on in support, with Republican Delegate Linda Sumner being the only delegate from the district to decline.

According to the resolution, “there are vast opportunities for diversifying the state energy portfolio, while creating new industries, new jobs and new sources of revenue that can complement those contributed by the coal industry in southern West Virginia counties,” and further, ” studies have shown that wind resources and the economic benefits of wind development are severely diminished and development rendered economically prohibitive as the ridge altitude is reduced as a result of surface mining.”

Reacting to the Rules Committee decision, Danny Chiotos, Organizer for the Student Environmental Action Coalition and West Virginia Youth Action League (WV-YAL) had this to say, “The House of Delegates lost an opportunity to show support for green jobs and clean energy by killing this resolution. We saw our government again side with big coal rather than the people, and it is high time that the House act to support a sustainable economy in West Virginia.”

The strong legislative support for the Resolution shows that there are varied perceptions as to how best to generate economic development in the southern West Virginia coal-producing counties. The stated purpose of the resolution was to “promote the diversification of the local and state economies and energy portfolios while allowing for continued responsible underground coal mining in the area.”

“Forty-one state legislators had signed on, recognizing that developing a wind farm was the better economic land-use option for Coal River Mountain, and that mountaintop removal would eliminate the chance for that to happen,” said Rory McIlmoil, Coordinator for the Coal River Wind campaign. “It is highly disconcerting that a handful of members of the Rules Committee can so blatantly undermine the democratic process and reject the support of nearly half the members of our House of Delegates.”

To which Vernon Haltom, Co-Director of Coal River Mountain Watch, added, “We applaud those delegates who stood with Delegate Susman in recognizing the need to diversify the economy of Raleigh County and all of southern West Virginia. I wish the rest of West Virginia’s legislators had the courage to do the same thing, and act in the best interest of the people of the state rather than continuing to prioritize serving the financial interests of a few out-of-state coal companies.”

“It appears that the only delegate from the Raleigh County district who didn’t want this is Delegate Linda Sumner. With the jobs this would create and the revenue this would bring to our county, why would anyone not want to be a part of this?” said Lorelei Scarbro, Community Organizer for the wind campaign.

“This money could last forever, and would go a long way toward stimulating new economic opportunities for the county, and for assisting our fire departments, ambulance services, sheriff’s departments and schools,” she added. “We need all of our delegates to do all they can in these hard economic times, and I’m severely disappointed in those legislators who aided in the squashing of this important resolution.”

For more information, or to view a list of sponsors, visit Coal River Wind.org or the state legislative website.

– – – – – – – –

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 52

(By Delegates Susman, Longstreth, Manypenny, Perdue, Staggers, Fleischauer, Argento, Barker, Beach, Boggs, Brown, Cann, Crosier, Doyle, Eldridge, Ellem, Fragale, Guthrie, Hatfield, Iaquinta, Klempa, Kominar, Lawrence, Louisos, Mahan, Manchin, Martin, McGeehan, Miley, Moore, Morgan, Moye, Reynolds, Rodighiero, Shook, Stephens, Talbott, Webster, Wells, White and Wooton)

Supporting the development of a permanent utility-scale wind farm on Coal River Mountain in the Coal River Mountain Area of Raleigh County, West Virginia, in order to promote the diversification of the local and state economies and energy portfolios while allowing for continued responsible underground coal mining in the area.

Whereas, the West Virginia coal industry provides a significant amount of energy for the United States and a vital source of jobs and economic revenue for West Virginia, including 1,100 mining jobs and over $1.5 million in annual coal severance taxes for Raleigh County; and

Whereas, there are vast opportunities for diversifying the state energy portfolio, while creating new industries, new jobs and new sources of revenue that can complement those contributed by the coal industry in southern West Virginia counties such as Raleigh County; and

Whereas, wind power provides one such opportunity, as there are substantial, economically feasible wind resources of both the large and small-scale that can be developed in southern West Virginia; and

Whereas, studies have shown that wind resources and the economic benefits of wind development are severely diminished and development rendered economically prohibitive as the ridge altitude is reduced as a result of surface mining; and

Whereas, a Coal River Mountain wind farm, consisting of 164 wind turbines and generating 328 megawatts of electricity, would provide over $1.74 million in annual property taxes to Raleigh County; and coal severance taxes related to proposed mountaintop removal mining, by comparison, would provide the county with only $36,000 per year; and

Whereas, a wind farm of this magnitude, combined with incentives for development of other wind farms in Raleigh County and other counties in southern West Virginia, could result in the development and growth of a viable and lasting wind industry; and

Whereas, by stimulating new economic opportunities in the rural parts of Raleigh County, the wind farm would provide greater opportunities for economic diversification than would be provided by the surface mining operations proposed for Coal River Mountain; and

Whereas, wind power development on Coal River Mountain is possible because of the unique topography of the region, and wind is a natural resource from which much of southern West Virginia will be unable to benefit economically if surface mining continues and is expanded on, and in adjacent areas of, Coal River Mountain; and

Whereas, Raleigh County coal production and mine productivity have been steadily declining since 1997, even as surface mine production has expanded, thus indicating that coal reserves in Raleigh County are being rapidly depleted, as will be the jobs and severance taxes that coal mining currently contributes to the county’s economy; and

Whereas, a December 2008 study shows that long-term economic stewardship of Coal River Mountain, allowing for both the continued recovery of coal by expanding underground mining while preserving the surface landscape of Coal River Mountain for wind farming, affords substantial and relatively greater economic benefits through diversified economic development and energy production than surface mining would, and which surface mining activity alone eliminates; and

Whereas, underground mining in West Virginia employs approximately twice the number of workers per ton of coal produced than surface mining; and

Whereas, developing alternative industries is necessary to ensure the future economic vitality of the Coal River Valley; and

Whereas, the proposed wind farm development for Coal River Mountain received the annual, nationally recognized and highly competitive “Building Economic Alternatives” award by the non-profit Green America (formerly Co-Op America); and

Whereas, formal surveys and opinion polls show that a decisive majority of West Virginia citizens support a ban on the surface mining practice of mountaintop removal mining, like that currently being permitted on Coal River Mountain, and that 62 percent of West Virginians support wind development rather than mountaintop removal mining for Coal River Mountain; therefore, be it

Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That the West Virginia Legislature supports the development of a permanent commercial wind farm on Coal River Mountain in the Coal River Mountain Area of Raleigh County, West Virginia, in order to promote the diversification of local and state economies and energy portfolios while continuing to properly evaluate the permitting of responsible underground coal mining activity in the area; and, be it

Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the (House / Senate) is hereby directed to forward a copy of this resolution to the Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection.

Sixth Annual Dine Out for the Mountains
An Earth Day event to benefit Appalachian Voices

To celebrate Earth Day, numerous restaurants in western North Carolina will donate a portion of their proceeds on Wednesday, April 22, to help Appalachian Voices protect the beautiful Appalachian Mountains. You can support Appalachian Voices and our efforts to safeguard the southern mountains by Dining Out at one of these restaurants on April 22. For more information call 828-262-1500.

Participating Dine Out Restaurants

In Blowing Rock
Canyons
Six Pence Pub
Woodland’s Barbecue

In Boone
Boone Bagelry
Black Cat Burrito
CiCi’s Pizza
Coyote Kitchen
Dos Amigos
Joe’s Italian Kitchen
Makotos
Mellow Mushroom
Murphy’s
Our Daily Bread
Pepper’s
Red Onion Café
Reid’s Café

The Gamekeeper will be participating on April 23rd, as they are closed April 22.

Contacts: Oliver Bernstein, Sierra Club, 512.477.2152
Kathy Selvage, Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards 276.523.4380 or 276.328.1223

Appalachia, Virginia — In a victory for community members and for clean water, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week directed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to revoke the “nationwide 21” mining permit for A&G Coal’s massive Ison Rock Ridge mountaintop removal coal mine in Southwest Virginia. The news comes only weeks after a delegation of Appalachian coalfield residents met with the EPA in Washington, D.C. urging the Agency to take quick action to protect their communities from the ravages of mountaintop removal coal mining. The bold move is the latest clear signal that the Obama Administration is taking action on mountaintop removal coal mining and supports clean energy solutions and green jobs. Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards (SAMS), a community organization based in Wise County, Virgina, and the Sierra Club have worked for two years to oppose strip mining on Ison Rock Ridge.

“This is a great day! I am hopeful it means the beginning of the end of the wholesale destruction of the Appalachian mountains, its watersheds, its streams, its people, and its soul,” said Kathy Selvage, vice president of SAMS.

The Army Corps had been relying on a cookie-cutter “nationwide” permit for the Ison Rock Ridge mine, but the EPA cites Clean Water Act concerns in its recommendation that the Army Corps revoke the permit for this mine. By dumping its mining waste into valleys and waterways, the Ison Rock Ridge mountaintop removal coal mining operation would be extremely destructive. Residents are also concerned with the proximity of the proposed mine to their homes, as portions of the permit are within the corporate limits of the town of Appalachia and surround several other nearby communities.

“I’m so relieved and grateful the EPA has taken this action.” said Gary Bowman, whose home is only hundreds of feet away from a proposed sediment pond for the permit. “We were stuck between a rock and a hard place with this permit and are so happy that we will be able to stay in our home.”

The company that operates the Ison Rock Ridge site, A&G Coal, is known for its role in the August 20, 2004 tragedy in which a boulder from an A&G strip mine rolled down a hillside and crashed into a family’s Wise County home below, killing a sleeping three-year-old child in his bedroom.

“The days of reckless, unchecked destruction of Appalachian mountains are numbered,” said Mary Anne Hitt, Deputy Director of the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign. “There is much more work to do, but President Obama’s EPA has taken bold action on mountaintop removal coal mining, and we applaud their intervention.”

The Ison Rock Ridge permit in Wise County, Virginia, covers nearly 1,300 acres and would destroy three miles of streams and fill nine lush valleys with more than 11 million cubic yards of rock and dirt. The massive mountaintop removal coal mine would surround the community of Derby, bringing destruction within a half mile of the historic district, eliminating the community’s tourism appeal. Other nearby affected communities include Andover, Inman, and Osaka and the Town of Appalachia.

“I’m walking on air,” said Derby resident Bob Mullins, who recently returned from a meeting with the White House Council on Environmental Quality. “I feel like we’ve finally accomplished something. This is a great victory to start with and now it’s time to get our friends and neighbors together to continue fighting for the cause and building this movement that is truly gaining momentum.”

Mountaintop removal mining is a destructive form of coal mining that has already contaminated or destroyed nearly 2,000 miles of streams. The mining poisons drinking water, lays waste to wildlife habitat, increases the risk of flooding and wipes out entire communities. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org/MTR or www.samsva.org.

Many thanks to the Charleston Gazette for their report. Below is an excerpt:

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Blair Mountain — site of the historic 1921 coal-mining labor battle — has been named to the National Register of Historic Places, state officials and advocates for the designation said Monday.

The designation, made by the Keeper of the National Register, includes a 10-mile stretch of Logan County ridges where thousands of miners fought federal troops as part of a United Mine Workers organizing fight. The designation covers about 1,600 acres, along a fairly narrow strip that runs northwest from near the town of Blair.

Labor historians and environmental activists have sought the designation for years, with those efforts increasing more recently as part of the fight over mountaintop removal coal mining.

“This is a major victory,” said Bill Price, a Sierra Club staffer who worked on the project. “We are just thrilled at the Keeper’s decision and of the recognition it gives to labor history in Southern West Virginia.”

But the designation does not block mining, and according to state officials could not have been made unless land-owning companies in the area agreed to it.

“It’s an honorary listing, principally, that recognizes the area’s historical significance,” said Susan Pierce, director of historic preservation for the state Division of Culture and History.

For more information, read the entire article and visit the Coal Tattoo Blog.

Our fellow organizers in West Virginia have an opening for a community organizer! The Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, or OVEC, is one of the oldest grassroots environmental groups in the region, and was the first to organize against mountaintop removal.

Job Announcement: OVEC Coalfield Organizer/Project Coordinator

The Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (OVEC), based in Huntington, WV seeks a full-time, highly reliable and experienced community organizer to coordinate our Sludge Safety Project and to continue building momentum for justice in the southern coalfields of West Virginia.

OVEC’s mission is to organize and maintain a diverse grassroots organization dedicated to the improvement and preservation of the environment through education, grassroots organizing and coalition building, leadership development and media outreach. We are a non-profit group.

The Sludge Safety Project is a coalition of OVEC, Coal River Mountain Watch and communities throughout West Virginia working for clean water and community safety near toxic coal waste sludge impoundments and underground injections.

We have already made significant strides in our local community organizing and our coalition efforts for community health and access to clean water. We are looking for a coordinator who can take Sludge Safety Project to the next level and build on our effectiveness locally and at the state legislature.

Responsibilities:
• Build the capacity of the Sludge Safety Project Committee, and carry out the strategy and decisions of the committee
• Support local organizing for clean water and other issues that may arise. As a coalfield organizer, community efforts will include community wind, fighting mountaintop removal permits, and seeding and maintaining local groups.
• Plan and facilitate strategy meetings
• Coordinate legislative efforts, including citizen lobby days
• Facilitate communication and relationships between community groups to build a stronger coalition
• Identify and build the capacity of community leaders and organizers
• Identify needs and coordinate trainings and other opportunities for leadership development
• Bring media attention to SSP issues, which includes writing press releases, updates to website and OVEC newsletter, maintaining email list, holding press conferences, etc.
• Pursue, nurture and maintain coalition partnerships
• Develop personal work plan, work reports, timesheets, expense forms, etc.

Qualifications:
• Strong commitment to social and environmental justice
• Strong commitment to group decision-making
• Highly motivated, self-starter and able to motivate others to act
• Strong people skills: Willing to make “cold calls” and strike up conversation
• Well-organized
• Goal oriented
• Able to work on multiple projects in a focused manner
• Keep groups of people well informed and engaged in decision-making
• Experience working for an environmental and social justice organization
• Experience in community organizing
• Basic computer skills such as Word, Excel, g-mail and a publishing program
• Willing to work nights and weekends
• Willing to learn and create an atmosphere of learning
• Excellent, active listener
• Good at problem-solving; able to deal with conflict in a skilled, respectful manner
• Able and willing to ask hard questions
• Creativity a plus
• Science background useful but not required

Location:
Our work is based in southern West Virginia. One-on-one, face-to-face conversations with impacted residents living near sludge sites and mountaintop removal is fundamental to the work we do. The position is significantly based in Mingo County and the surrounding area. Willingness to live in the coalfields is a strong plus.

The position requires a significant amount of driving, and owning a reliable car is essential.

Salary and Benefits:
Salary commensurate with experience; competitive benefits package includes health insurance, travel reimbursement, retirement, compensation time, professional development and generous vacation.

To Apply:
Please submit 1 personal and 2 professional references along with your resume and cover letter to ovec.personnel@gmail.com by May 22.

To learn more about our work, please visit www.ohvec.org and www.sludgesafety.org

OVEC is an equal opportunity employer.

This is a really beautiful letter from Bo Webb to Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia.

Dear Sen. Byrd: Restoring mountains could be your greatest legacy

Dear Sen. Byrd, I write you today as a grandfather, and as a deep admirer of your inimitable contribution to our beloved state of West Virginia. As the son of a coal miner, I will always value your work to ensure economic investment and proper safety in our coalfields.

Soon, as you know, as the colorful peepers of red bush and wake robins pull from the clinch of winter, I will take my granddaughter’s hand and roam our Clay Branch hollows in search of ramps. This has been a 150-year tradition in my family in the Coal River mountain range, as I am sure it was for your family along Wolf Creek.

This year, though, instead of that pungent smell of wild ramps and the blossoms of spring, my granddaughter will be exposed to the sickening haze of ammonium nitrate and diesel oil, and the after shower of silica dust that blankets our hollow like a plague. Our ancestral mountain in the Peachtree community is being destroyed for a mountaintop removal operation.

In your wonderful book last year, Letter to a New President: Commonsense Lessons for Our Next Leader, you wrote that we should never turn our backs on the lessons of our coal-mining fathers. My father, like others in my family, first started working in the mines at age 11. But it is the grave of my Uncle Clyde Williams, who died in the mine at Leevale here on Coal River Mountain at age 17, that also hovers in my mind as I walk these hills, gather herbs and berries, and hunt and fish with my grandchildren.

I want my children and grandchildren to have the right to dream and flourish as great contributors to our state in West Virginia. I don’t want them to feel compelled to leave our state to look for employment or to realize their dreams. I want them to know that the rule of law protects them, their families and our mountains.

You, more than any other person in our state, understand this. When you went to Washington, D.C., for the first time to represent West Virginia, more than 130,000 union coal miners proudly toted their lunch pails and went to their jobs in the underground mines in our state. And you, as our voice in Washington, proudly made sure their safety and security were priorities to the rest of the country. Today, only 20,000 West Virginia coal miners make up those ranks. In many respects, strip mining and mountaintop removal operations have robbed my generation and my children of a chance to maintain our great Appalachian heritage, our beloved mountains and vibrant streams, and above all, any diverse economic development in our community.

In responding to the recent EPA decision to scrutinize mountaintop removal permits more closely last week, you wrote: “Every job in West Virginia matters. Everyone involved must act swiftly in concert and cooperation to remedy any problems that threaten coal jobs and the people who live in the local communities where coal is mined.”

Sen. Byrd, as a grandfather, I write to you: If our grandchildren are going to have any jobs and future at all in West Virginia, we must get beyond the stranglehold of mountaintop removal coal operations and find a way to bring new jobs and life to our mountain communities.

This could be your greatest legacy, among many, Sen. Byrd. Your public role in co-sponsoring the Appalachian Mountain Restoration Act (S.696) to defend the health and safety of our communities and putting an end to mountaintop removal and its destruction of our local economies, would place our state back on track for responsible mining, more coal mining employment, and a step toward a diversified economy that includes loans and investment in manufacturing of renewable energy products, such as wind turbine and solar panels, and high-technology operations.

In your powerful Letter to a New President, you wrote: “What determines the quality of American democracy is the use we make of our power. We have institutions in place to help this country avoid the misuse of our power. Those institutions are Congress, the courts and public opinion. The more we cut off true debate and the exchange of ideas, and let those in power use emotion, misdirection and the manipulation of truth to whip the nation into action, the more likely we are to make dangerous mistakes in how we use our power. A representative democracy only works when the people are involved. We need them.”

We need you now more than ever, Sen. Byrd, to bring new jobs, and restore a new sense of democracy to the coalfields of West Virginia.

Visit Earthbeat Radio HERE to check out JW’s interview.

Mountaintop removal mining has DEFINITELY been in the public eye this past week. If you haven’t heard the news, check fellow blogger Ken Ward Jr.’s wrap-up of media coverage of the EPA decision to further review three mountaintop removal mining permits, Appalachian Voices’ Director of Programs Matthew Wasson’s analysis of the “blow-back” from mining interests, and our coverage of the introduction of a new Senate bill to end mountaintop removal.

Not only were papers across the region following these stories, editorials were popping up like daisies… overwhelming calling for an end to mountaintop removal. Want to check them out? You can… with the Editorial Run-down!!

New York Times “Appalachia’s Agony” March 16, 2009
Roanoke Times “Mountaintop Removal Gets More Scrutiny” March 29,2009
Chattanooga Free Press “Mountaintop Removal Brake” March 29, 2009
Virginian-Pilot “End the Scourge of Mountaintop Mining” March 30, 2009
Asheville Citizen Times “Time to Write the Obituary for this Mining Practice” March 27, 2009

Better Know a CWPA Sponsor: Dale Kildee (D-MI-05) has represented Michigan on the state or federal level since 1964 and has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1974. Hailing from the industrial town of Flint, Michigan, Congressman Kildee is intimately acquainted with the boom and bust economics of single industry regions. We thank him for his support of the people and resources of Appalachia!

Better Know a CWPA Target: Vern Ehlers (R-MI-03) is currently serving his eighth term in the U.S. House of Representatives. He sits on the Transportation & Infrastructure committee, the committee to which our bill has been assigned, so his support is crucial in getting the bill heard and passed through committee so it can be passed on the House floor! Ehlers has a strong history of supporting water quality in the Great Lakes, which border his state, and recognizes water as a valuable natural resource that needs to be protected! Ehlers also advocates for alternative energy and increased energy efficiency… he owns and drives a hybrid! We hope that Ehlers can see the connections between these interests and the needs of the region of Appalachia to protect our natural resources, water, and our need to create a sustainable energy future all across the nation, because right now Appalachia is paying an extraordinarily high price for America’s energy.

March 26th, 2009 – The following email was sent to the 35,000+ supporters of iLoveMountains.org. To sign up to receive free email alerts, click here.

 Sen. Alexander      Sen. Cardin

Now we’ve got momentum — and we need you to act.

On Monday, the Environmental Protection Agency announced it was reviewing hundreds of mountaintop removal coal mining permits.

We wrote to ask you to thank the administration for taking this bold stance against the devastation of mountaintop removal coal mining, and asked you to help make the EPA’s decision permanent by telling the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the Clean Water Protection Act.

And yesterday, for the first time ever, a companion bill to the Clean Water Protection Act was introduced in the U.S. Senate.

Two U.S. senators from coal producing states — Senator Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) and Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) — introduced the Appalachia Restoration Act (S 696), which would amend the Clean Water Act to prevent the dumping of toxic mining waste from mountaintop removal coal mining into headwater streams and rivers.

Can you contract your Senators today, and urge them to support (co-sponsor?) the Appalachia Restoration Act?

https://ilovemountains.org/action/write_your_senators

In introducing the legislation, Senator Cardin said: “My goal is to put a stop to one of the most destructive mining practices that has already destroyed some of America’s most beautiful and ecologically significant regions. This legislation will put a stop to the smothering of our nation’s streams and water systems and will restore the Clean Water Act to its original intent.”

“It is not necessary to destroy our mountaintops in order to have enough coal,” said Senator Alexander. “Millions of tourists spend tens of millions of dollars in Tennessee every year to enjoy the natural beauty of our mountains – a beauty that, for me, and I believe for most Tennesseans, makes us proud to live here.”

Senator Alexander has it right. This is not an either/or choice — it’s about saving the environment and creating new jobs.

Please, contact your Senator today and urge them to support this important bipartisan bill:

https://ilovemountains.org/action/write_your_senators

With your help, the Clean Water Protection Act can pass the House and Senate this year — and put a permanent end to the worst practices of mountaintop removal coal mining.

Thank you for taking action.

Matt Wasson
iLoveMountains.org

PS Please forward this email to your friends and family, and ask them to take action by contacting their Senators today!