News
A Bad Year for Big Coal. Let’s Make It a Good Year for the Mountains!
Thursday, March 13th, 2008
March 2, 2008 – The following email was sent to 29.807 supporters of iLoveMountains.org. To sign up to receive free email alerts, click here.
Earlier this year, we wrote to tell you how 2008 would be a defining year for the coal industry.
And so far, it’s going quite badly for them.
As the environmental website Grist put it:
Just in the past week, elite opinion against coal has accelerated, two major coal projects have run into embarrassments, and an independent report has confirmed that things are only going to get worse. Now you know why Big Coal has been sponsoring presidential debates, putting Santas on corners around D.C., and pouring millions of dollars into a PR campaign.
The tide is turning against coal because thousands of people like you are making their voices heard in the fight to end mountaintop removal coal mining.
More than 27,000 people have signed up on iLoveMountains.org. And more than 43,000 Americans recently spoke out against a proposed Bush administration rule that would weaken the Stream Buffer Zone (SBZ) rule and pave the way to more mountaintop removal coal mining.
43,000 people. As Carl Shoupe of Harlan County, a member of Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, asks, “How can 43,000 people stand up and speak like we spoke against this destruction and somebody not hear us?”
Well, the truth is — they are hearing us. They’re hearing us in the boardrooms of Big Coal and in the halls of Congress, where your actions have convinced a historic 129 members of Congress to co-sponsor the Clean Water Protection Act (CWPA), which would sharply curtail mountaintop removal coal mining and protect our rivers and streams.
Now, I’d like to personally ask you to join me and make your voice heard in our nation’s capitol.
April 5th- April 9th, 2008 is our 3rd Annual Mountaintop Removal Week in Washington — the chance for people like you from all across the country to meet your representatives and ask them to stop the destructive practice of mountaintop removal coal mining.
Last year’s week in Washington was a tremendous success. More than 100 people from 19 states came to Washington, holding more than 100 meetings with Congressional offices and 20 face-to-face meetings with Members of Congress.
Can you join us this year in Washington? You’ll get to meet and work with other passionate Appalachian activists from around the country; develop and hone your outreach skills in our outreach workshops; attend a congressional reception sponsored by Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey; and meet face to face with legislators to help inspire and educate them to pass legislation to end mountaintop removal coal mining.
To learn more and register for the Week in Washington, click here: http://ilovemountains.org/action/wiw2008 The deadline for registering for this year’s week in Washington is Friday, March 14. So please, sign up today!
PS: If you can’t attend the Week in Washington in person, please consider making a contribution to support a volunteer. Just $35 will cover most meals for one volunteer; $50 will cover a volunteer’s hotel room for one night; while $150 will cover some volunteer’s travel one way. Click here to support a volunteer today.
