Coal is Dirty

Updated Fact sheets on Coal

Kevin Grandia — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 19:19:15 +0000

Here are some fact sheets Greenpeace has pulled together on topics to do with coal. Here are two new ones on Coal Ash, a basic fact sheet on Coaland one on the clean coal myth.

These are going to continue to be built over the life of the campaign, so please feel free to let us know about other facts and figures we should consider adding.

Take action right now and tell our government leaders to Quit Coal!

Quit Coal - Join the Movement

Kevin Grandia — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 20:54:00 +0000

Check out Greenpeace's new Quit Coal website. This is a long term project and it starts now with you.

One of the main functions of the site is a Quit Coal Community Forum tool we've developed to enable and empower everyday people in their community to fight back against dirty coal plants.

We deserve safe and clean energy. Sign up today and join the movement to Quit Coal.

Here's a video we produced to introduce the project:

Fourteen Arrested Taking Action Against Banks and Big Coal

Scott Parkin — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 23:10:07 +0000

Today, hundreds marched and saw fourteen community and climate activists arrested as the Midwest Rising! Convergence took the streets of St. Louis to protest Bank of America and Peabody Coal.

The arrest action occurred in the intersection connecting Bank of America's St. Louis offices and Peabody's national headquarters.

Peabody is the world's largest coal company and mines states like Wyoming and Montana for coal bound for coal plants in the U.S. and overseas markets. They are currently trying to build coal export terminals along the Washington coast for coal bound for Asia. Peabody has also recently taken a $61 million tax credit from the city of St. Louis, $2 million of that cash will be taken from St. Louis schools.

Bank of America is the largest forecloser in the nation and the largest funder of coal. Bank of America execs have taken over $35 million in bonuses and compensation even as the troubled financial instritution took government bailouts.

Midwest Rising was made up of 400 people from 50 different organizations, including a cross-section of labor, community and climate organizations and convened in St. Louis on August 11 – 15. Organizations represented include: Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment, Rising Tide, Climate Action STL, St. Louis Instead of War Coalition, Organization for Black Struggle, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, Coal Country, Mountain Justice/United Mountain Defense, Greening Detroit, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), North County Neighbors, The Rainforest Action Network: Chicago Chapter, and Pick Up America.

Here's the press advisory, post-action press release out soon:

Activists to March on Peabody, BofA in Unique Blend of
Community, Climate Concerns

: via Midwest Rising!

(St Louis, MO) — “Corporations need to respect both people and the earth,” says Chelsea Ritter-Soronen, a St. Louis resident. “No one should lose their home, their livelihood or, at worst, die from bad business practices, but that happens all the time. That’s why we’re demanding that Peabody Energy, the world’s largest coal producer, and Bank of America, one of its financial partners, be better corporate citizens,” says Ritter-Soronen. “Simply put: greed kills, and we won’t stand by and let that happen.”

On Monday at noon, Ritter-Sorononen will join over a hundred activists from St. Louis and around the country to march through downtown St. Louis in a creative direct action to spotlight Peabody Energy and Bankof America’s records of environmental and human exploitation. The group, coming together under the heading of Midwest Rising, demands that:

1. Peabody Energy return the $61 million in recent tax breaks to the city, especially $2 million from the St. Louis Public Schools system, so that money can fund education and other social services

2. Peabody Energy halt its plan to build an export terminal in Washington state for the export of coal to China. Coal is a dirty fuel that worsens global warming at home and abroad; 3. Bank of America stops financing for companies engaged in mountaintop removal coal mining and companies pursuing coal export infrastructure

4. Peabody Energy end coal extraction and switch completely to renewable, sustainable energy. Bank of America shift its investment dollars away from coal and toward clean, green renewable energy.

With high levels of unemployment, increasing environmental fragility, endless wars, tax breaks for corporations, bailouts for the banks and an erosion of the social safety net that knit communities together, people find a common bond in the social justice movement. “The great support for Midwest Rising shows that people want to heal and reclaim our values of peace, justice, health, environmentalism and prosperity for all of us,” says Johnathan McFarland, organizer with Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment. “We are united against the common opponent of corporate greed run amok.”

Also planned for Monday are five delegations to corporations and public offices in support of good jobs, peace, healthy food, good schools and a healthy environment. The delegations will be visiting Monsanto headquarters, Arch Coal headquarters, the St. Louis Board of Education, the office of Congressman Russ Carnahan (D-3, MO) and a local Verizon office. Each visit represents a spoke in the wheel of social justice, from demanding that Arch Coal protect Blair Mountain in West Virginia from mountaintop removal to supporting the 45,000 workers who are currently on strike at Verizon to protect their workplace benefits.

At Arch Coal, the country’s second largest coal producer, citizens will ask the company to end the damaging practice of mountaintop removal for coal extraction; and, in the immediate future, spare the historic Blair Mountain from destruction. Peace activists will visit the district office of Russ Carnahan (D-3 MO), who is currently on a trip to Israel on an AIPAC-affiliated junket. Peace activists are seeking Carnhahan’s support for Palestinian rights and a just and peaceful resolution of the conflict for everyone involved. At the Board of Education, community members will demand that corporations, like Peabody Energy, give back the tax breaks that divert funds from local schools. In St. Louis, funding for schools is needed to restore librarians and parent support specialists. In support of the ongoing strike by Verizon workers, Midwest Rising activists will join a local picket to show support for protecting good jobs over greed. At Monsanto, activists will demand that the corporation label ts genetically modified food and stop disabling indigenous ways of agriculture.

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Cure Your Summertime Blues At Coal Action Camp

Scott Parkin — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 18:43:32 +0000

Cross-posted from the RAN Understory

It’s going to be some hot business this summer, and we ain’t talkin about the triple digit heat wave hitting much of the country. There is a rebellious spirit sweeping the U.S.A. as people are fighting back against the fossil fuel industry from coast to coast.

We all know about the big tar sands to-do happening in Washington D.C. at the end of August, but did you know about the various grassroots action camps targeting coal, corporations and other issues in various parts of the country? These camps will be turning up the street heat on King Coal.

Midwest Rising! Convergence for Climate and Economic Justice, St. Louis, MO (Aug. 11-15): Rising Tide North America, Climate Action-St. Louis, a number of Midwestern economic justice and environmental justice groups have organized Midwest Rising!, a convergence of the climate and economic justice movements in the heart of King Coal’s backyard. Arch Coal, Patriot Coal and the world’s largest coal company, Peabody Energy, are headquartered there. And St. Louis is also an area hit hard by the foreclosure crisis, which has mobilized groups like Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE) to launch campaigns against Wall Street’s big banks. We’re looking forward to this historic convergence and can’t wait to see what happens next.

Localize This! Action Camp, Vashon Island, WA (Aug 14-21): On beautiful Vashon Island, off the coast of Seattle, the Backbone Campaign is calling on trouble-makers from all over the Pacific Northwest to come together to build skills for our re-emerging anti-corporate movement. The camp will focus on trainings in the areas of campaigning, media skills,climbing and non-violent direct action. The Pacific Northwest coast is a region of growing importance in the national coal debate as coal exports are emerging as a vital issue in towns like Bellingham, WA and Longview, WA. RAN is fully engaged in the coal exports fight and will be at Localize This! giving trainings and issue briefings.

Reclaim Power Southeast Action Camp, Western NC (Aug 18-22): People working for justice, peace and a sustainable future in the Southeast are invited to join this long weekend of workshops, trainings, strategizing, and direct action. This camp merges folks from the peace, anti-nuclear, environmental justice and Earth First! movements in the Carolinas to share skills, share information, build community and put this awareness to ACTION. Mountaintop removal coal mining and coal burning power plants have long plagued communities in Appalachia and the southeast and Reclaim Power will continue to build campaigns against the coalistas.

Quit Coal Action Camp, Sandusky, OH (Sep 2-5): Greenpeace is sponsoring a Direct Action Training Camp for up to 80 activists to learn and share new skills and experiences so that we can all step up our game against extractive industries. Greenpeace activist James Brady has recently told us he really doesn’t like coal. This camp gives him the opportunity to show us all how to fight it. We hope Greenpeace films James’ workshops, but if not, he trains so much eventually you can probably see it in person. Plus James is pretty funny. (That’s funny ha ha, not funny looking.)

Grassroots direct action movements against the fossil fuel industry (particularly coal) are taking off. Last week, climate activist Tim DeChristopher was sentenced to two years in prison for derailing an illegal land sale to the oil and gas industry. Since then the number of concerned people showing up to fight King Coal and Big Oil has increased tenfold (so we hear). This fight is on and there’s no going back. See you at camp.

Yes to Sunflowers, No to Coal Plants

Scott Parkin — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 18:33:27 +0000

It’s been a tough week for the climate movement. Tim DeChristopher, one of our strongest most articulate voices, was sent to prison for two years.

But amidst the crappy news about Tim, deCarbonize Colorado and other groups in Boulder gave us a bit of an uplifting story. Last year, activists organized an occupation action at the Valmount coal plant in Boulder where five were arrested. Soon after their action, the Boulder City Council voted to close the Valmount plant by 2017. That wasn’t good enough for them, so last weekend they turned out 150 folks who rode their bikes to the Valmount plant and then did a massive guerrilla gardening action on the plant’s property.

Here’s the reportback from one of the activists working to end coal in Colorado:

“On Saturday, August 16 close to 150 Boulder residents took part in a creative and empowering direct action at the Valmont Coal Plant in support of energy localization and local food. After a community bike ride from downtown Boulder, folks of all ages planted sunflowers – known for their use in natural soil remediation projects – on a vacant lot at the gates of the Valmont Coal Plant. The activists were calling for the immediate shut-down of the Valmont Coal Plant, as well as urging the City of Boulder to cut its ties with Xcel Energy and to create a truly sustainable community built on local democracy, locally-generated energy and locally-produced food.”

“Folks gathered in downtown Boulder for a free breakfast (complete with French Toast!) provided by the local chapter of Food Not Bombs. The community bike ride, which included a large contingent of children and families, occupied major east-west thoroughfares as we made the 5 mile trek to the Valmont Coal Plant, located east of town. Small teams of bikers carefully managed traffic in the intersections to ensure the safe passage of everyone on the bike ride, as folks enjoyed chants, small talk and a beautiful summer day.”

“After roughly an hour of pedaling from downtown Boulder, we arrived at the Valmont Coal Plant in high spirits. Community members started to turn over soil to prepare the ground for planting, while others erected signs reading “Our Power Our Future Our Choice” “Planting a Clean Future” and “Coal Plant in Transition.” We then planted sunflowers at the gates of the coal plant, to begin the transition away from dirty fossil fuels in our community. Sunflowers are useful in the soil remediation process, as they are able to extract arsenic and other coal-plant pollutants, out of the soil. They are also an example of a natural, sustainable and community-scale solution to the problems associated with coal and other fossil fuels.”

“Thanks to much community involvement, Boulder is well on its way to cutting its ties with Xcel Energy, a Minnesota-based, monopoly utility company that generates 90% of its electricity from fossil fuels. A ballot measure passed by a large margin last November allowed the city to take the first steps toward creating a publicly-owned municipal utility. This November, voters will have the opportunity to establish a municipal utility. Such a change would enable democratic decision-making over the source of our electricity, dramatically expand locally-generated renewable energy and – in tandem with efforts to expand the production of local food – help create a thriving and sustainable local community.”

“Solidarity to Tim DeChristopher and all our Rocky Mountain comrades from Utah to Montana.”

Tree Sit Stops Blasting on Coal River Mountain "For Judy Bonds"

Scott Parkin — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 18:42:19 +0000

I love the smell of direct action in the morning.

Last week, I was part of Earth First! and Northern Rockies Rising Tide taking over the governor of Montana's offices in protest of tar sands development, and this morning, the RAMPS Campaign put a couple of tree-sitters up on Coal River Mountain to stop mountaintop removal coal mining.

The tree-sit has stopped Alpha Natural Resources strip mining operations on Coal River Mountain. Catherine-Ann MacDougal and Becks Kolins currently are sitting in trees 80 feet off ground about 300 feet from active blasting operations.

Their banners read "Stop Strip Mining" and "For Judy Bonds."

Judy Bonds was an Appalachian leader in the anti-mountaintop removal fight who died of cancer earlier this year.

Judy's daughter, Lisa Henderson, said in support of the tree-sit- “I hope that today’s actions serve as a symbol that the struggle to live peacefully and pollution-free in the Coal River Valley did not end when my mother’s life did. My mother and I often compared the fight to survive here on Coal River to the civil rights struggles of the 1960s. I am sure that generations from now, our children will look back on this movement also and the actions of the people involved, and ask the question of their elders, ‘Whose side were you on?’”

-------------------------------------

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 20th, 2011
Contact: Mathew Louis-Rosenberg, 304-924-1836

Activists Block Mining Operations on Coal River Mountain Call for end to strip mining in the Coal River Watershed

MARFORK, W.Va. - Two protesters associated with the RAMPS Campaign halted blasting on a portion of Alpha Natural Resources' Bee Tree mountaintop removal mine on Coal River Mountain today by ascending two trees. Catherine-Ann MacDougal, 24, and Becks Kolins, 21, are on platforms approximately 80 feet off the ground within 300 feet of active blasting on the mine. The banners hanging from their platforms read “Stop Strip Mining” and “For Judy Bonds” in honor of strip mining activist Julia “Judy” Bonds of Packsville, W.Va. who died of cancer earlier this year. The activists demand that Alpha Natural Resources stop strip mining on Coal River Mountain and that the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection prohibit future strip mining in the Coal River Watershed.

“I feel, with the keen urgency of extinction, that Alpha Natural Resources cannot be allowed to tear apart Coal River Mountain and allow all those living below it to suffer for their profits. The Coal River watershed cannot tolerate any more damage. There is no way that I can begin to detail the comprehensive destruction that surface mining and mountaintop removal wreak on the forest ecosystem of the southern Appalachian mountains,” said Catherine-Ann MacDougal.

Coal River Mountain is the last major intact mountain in the watershed, which encompasses roughly 570,000 acres in the heart of the southern WV coalfields. Nearly a quarter of total land area in the watershed is being mined or permitted to be mined in the future, including over 5,000 acres of Coal River Mountain. As of January 2011, Marfork Coal Company, a subsidiary of Alpha, has destroyed about 75 acres of Coal River Mountain on the Bee Tree permit, the only active mountaintop removal permit on the mountain. Activists say they are determined to prevent further strip-mining.

Elias Schewel, 27, and Junior Walk, 21, are supporting the sitters from the base of their trees. Walk, who grew up in Eunice W.Va. at the foot of Coal River Mountain says that he was inspired to take action, in part, by his lifelong relationship with Judy Bonds.

“The last two families to be driven out of this holler we're in today were Judy Bonds and my great uncle and they both died of lung cancer. Judy spoke often about how hard it was to leave, but black water spill after black water spill, the blasting dust clouds, and fears for the health of her family forced her out. Packsville is gone. We're not just losing our clean air and clean water. We're losing our communities, our history, and our culture.”

Judy Bonds' fears of the health impacts from coal operations have been increasingly backed up by research from WVU. A recent public health study found a correlation between residence in a mountaintop removal area and higher rates of birth defects, even accounting for other socio-economic factors(i). Public health research has linked residence in coal-impacted regions to increased rates of cancer, kidney disease, and some chronic illnesses, confirming long-held community concerns.(ii)(iii)

“Those who are drinking tainted water, breathing coal dust, and watching the mountains fall around them don't need a scientific study to tell them what's wrong,” noted MacDougal. Fellow tree sitter Becks Kolins remembers their first visit to the home of a Coal River Valley resident last year.

“He showed me his yearbook and pointed out everyone that had gotten cancer. The only teachers that hadn't gotten cancer had made a point of not drinking the water.”

Lisa Henderson, Judy Bonds’ daughter and Coal River Valley resident, sees this action as a continuation of her mother’s work.

“I hope that today’s actions serve as a symbol that the struggle to live peacefully and pollution-free in the Coal River Valley did not end when my mother’s life did. My mother and I often compared the fight to survive here on Coal River to the civil rights struggles of the 1960s. I am sure that generations from now, our children will look back on this movement also and the actions of the people involved, and ask the question of their elders, ‘Whose side were you on?’”

RAMPS (Radical Action for Mountain People's Survival) is a non-violent direct action campaign based in southern West Virginia dedicated to ending all forms of strip-mining in Appalachia. Ongoing updates about this action will be available at www.rampscampaign.org.

###

i M. Ahern, M. Hendryx, J. Conley, E. Fedorko, A. Ducatman, and K. Zullig, “The association between mountaintop mining and birth defects among live births in central Appalachia, 1996-2003” Environmental Research in press, 2011 ii N.P. Hitt, M. Hendryx, "Ecological integrity of streams related to human cancer mortality rates." Ecohealth. 2010 Aug;7(1):91-104.
iii M. Ahern, M. Hendryx, "“Relations between Health Indicators and Residential Proximity to Coal Mining in West Virginia." American Journal of Public Health, 2

Massey’s Dearly Departed

Scott Parkin — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 17:16:55 +0000

“When you decide to be something, you can be it. That's what they don't tell you in the church. When I was your age they would say we can become cops, or criminals. Today, what I'm saying to you is this: when you're facing a loaded gun, what's the difference?”

-Frank Costello, The Departed

What is the difference? I mean really, does it matter which side of the law you are on when the end result is dead people? It sometimes baffles me the legitimacy society grants to one group of people to go out and kill people through environmental and labor abuses, while society deems another group “illegitimate” because they kill people while operating in black markets dealing in gambling and drugs.

Case in point, one of last week’s big news stories was the capture of reputed Boston mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger who eluded federal authorities for 16 years. Last week, the 81 year old Bulger was found living somewhat openly in a Santa Monica apartment complex with his long time partner Catherine Greig. Bulger ran various nefarious rackets in Boston for decades, is linked personally to at least 19 murders and was also the inspiration for Jack Nicholson’s character, Frank Costello, in Martin Scorcese’s 2006 crime drama, The Departed.

Then we turn to organized crime (IMHO) in West Virginia, where this week’s news story has been the revelation that another refuted organized crime organization, Massey Energy, faked mining safety reports at the Upper Big Branch mine before the disaster. The company fabricated a set of reports to show mining inspectors while maintaining another set of reports showing actual hazards. The subsequent explosion that occurred on April 5, 2010 killed 29 miners (10 more people than Whitey Bulger is accused of killing.)

This revelation comes on top of the indictment a few months ago of Massey’s chief security officer, Hughie Elbert Stover, for obstructing federal investigators in the Upper Big Branch mining disaster. The FBI is also investigating Massey officials for criminal negligence and bribery of federal regulators.

The only different difference between Whitey's Winter Hill Gang and Massey? Massey has a corporate charter and operated under full protection of the government, while Whitey had to hide all his business transactions from the FBI, the DEA, the IRS, etc. etc.

Massey’s former CEO and reputed mob boss Don Blankenship, an outspoken opponent of mining regulation and active GOP funder, did everything possible to avoid compliance and created a corporate culture to fight regulation at every turn. Blankenship flooded West Virginia’s political system with Massey dollars to manipulate state regulators. Blankenship owned West Virginia politicians like Joe Manchin. And he’d fund vacations to the French Riviera with himself and West Virginia State Supreme Court Justices to influence rulings on Massey related cases.

An independent investigation has revealed that West Virginia’s politicians were afraid of Massey’s strong arm style tactics, and the company ignored safety regulations to increase profit.

Blankenship is an arch criminal responsible for the deaths of those 29 miners, the destruction of 500 mountains (plus many miles of forest and waterways) and harming local Appalachian communities with toxic waste, fly rock and refuse from mountaintop removal sites.

But what’s the difference between Blankenship and Whitey Bulger?

Society deems Bulger’s occupation as drug dealer, loan shark and contract killer as illegitimate while Blankenship’s status as a corporate CEO is legit regardless of how much misery he spread. As a result, Whitey Bulger is looking at life in prison and maybe even the death penalty, while Blankenship got a nice golden parachute.

Coal Export Madness Spreading to Oregon

Scott Parkin — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 23:25:00 +0000

Coal companies are bound and determined to get that dirty black rock out of the Powder River Basin and send it over to Asian markets to line their pockets. While the EPA is pressing for stricter regulations on coal plants and the anti-coal movement stops new coal fired power plants from being built and existing coal plants from having their lives extended, coal companies like Arch Coal, Ambre Energy and Peabody Energy are looking at Japan, China and India for new markets. These companies have already begun to seek permitting in the Washington ports of Bellingham and Longview and are facing stiff opposition.

In the southern part of the state along the Columbia River at the port of Longview, public pressure caused Millennium Bulk Logistics (a combination of Ambre Energy and Arch Coal) to blink and withdraw their permitting. While Ambre has stated they will re-submit once an environmental impact study is complete, the opposition to the port in Longview has become quite loud and effective at fighting the coal port initiative.

North of Seattle in Bellingham, WA, port logistical company SSA Marine and Peabody Energy have faced their own opposition. In the past few months, people in Bellingham have organized a number of large events around the coal export terminal at Cherry Point, a thousand person rally which featured climate activist Bill McKibben and caused the mayor of Bellingham Dan Pike to publicly oppose the terminal (the most notable politician to speak out against coal exports thus far.)

Now the coal companies are looking to mitigate the effective campaign work of the Longview and Bellingham communities, along with their national, regional and local allies, by spreading the ports south of Washington into Oregon.

Ambre has announced a lease at the port of Morrow (near Boardman, OR) along the Columbia River. Their goal at the Port of Morrow is to minimize the criticism they are getting from the increased rail traffic opening up coal terminals will bring. Their plan is to rail coal from the Powder River Basin to the Port of Morrow, put it on river barges and float the coal down river to coal terminals for export to Asia.

The other Oregon port being talked about is the port of St. Helens. Also along the Columbia this port is almost directly across the river from Longview. Columbia River Keeper, which has been a leader in fighting coal exports, has been pursuing more information on the Port of St. Helen’s. Oregon’s Democratic Gov. John Kitzhaber, elected with strong support of the environmental community, has stated that the coal exports in Oregon won’t move forward without a vigorous public debate.

While coal companies keep playing every trick in the book, enviros are making no assumptions about King Coal’s determination to export coal and will be fighting them with every means possible.

Defending Appalachian History

Scott Parkin — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 18:30:26 +0000

“The corporations take advantage of people in Appalachia, and this is happening all over Appalachia, not just West Virginia… We have to save one mountain at a time.”
-Psera Newman, Lexington KY

Billy Bragg sings about there being power in a union. But after the past week, I see that there is power not just in unions, but in unity.

Over the past week, some amazing friends of mine organized one of the largest anti-mountaintop removal actions in the history of Appalachia. The March on Blair Mountain brought together a march and mobile convergence that not only brought out Appalachian community residents, students, and environmentalists that have been fighting mountaintop removal for the past few years, but also built alliances with rank and file labor.

Coal companies are not only seeking to “remove” Blair Mountain’s pristine forests, destroy it’s wildlife and poison the neighboring communities, but they are also seeking to “remove” the actual history of the place. In 1921, 7,000-10,000 miners organizing southern West Virginia’s coal mines had a five-day battle with coal thugs, private security forces and federal troops on the top of Blair Mountain. The corporations literally had airplanes drop surplus World War One bombs on the union miners.

On Saturday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., speaking at the rally, aptly described the Battle of Blair Mountain as “labor’s Gettysburg.” It was a turning point for the legitimization of labor unions in this country. You can see why Corporate America wants to erase it from the history books.

Arch Coal and Alpha Natural Resources (which includes recently acquired Massey Energy operations) have had Blair Mountain’s historical preservation status revoked, have started mining operations on the mountain and are seeking further permitting for strip mining. Alpha is trying to put a kinder, gentler face on coal mining, both underground and on the mountaintops. Their response to the March on Blair Mountain was to put out a statement saying they had no intention of blasting the battleground. But do we really trust one of the many corporations that have contributed to the destruction of 500 Appalachian mountains, poisoned it’s waters and waged war on it’s population?

via MarchOnBlairMountain.org

Last week, a multi-generational, multi-racial, multi-issue group of over 200 marched 50 miles from Marmet, WV to Blair Mountain, WV to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Blair Mountain and call for an end to mountaintop removal. I had friends that joined the march from Texas, Utah, Wyoming, Chicago, Australia and all up and down the East Coast and the Mid-West.

It wasn’t without it’s challenges. The coal companies used intimidation tactics to have six six campsite reservations canceled during the week and a half-long march. And through much of the march, counter-protesters screamed obscenities and shot the finger at marchers. But despite these hardships, they reached the foot of Blair Mountain for a 1,000-person rally and march to the top of Blair Mountain.

The other highlight of the March on Blair Mountain was the direct action. Organizers and participants felt it important that something happen on the actual battlefield itself. The battlefield is now company property and the entrance was protected by private security, locked gates and state police. An action on the battlefield meant a trespass on company property.

While much of the march was organized using “leadership models,” the action planning quickly turned to horizontal organizing. Much like the anti-nuclear movement and the global justice movement, planning used affinity groups and an impromptu spokescouncil meeting to sort out details and make decisions about what the action would do and look like. More than ten affinity groups formed to anchor a breakaway march that went to commemorate the history of Blair Mountain. Some 150 people went onto the battlefield site to set up memorials.

They were eventually evicted by state police and one person was arrested.

The March on Blair Mountain Begins

Scott Parkin — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 17:17:45 +0000

Amidst threats and intimidation by King Coal's supporters, 600 courageous marchers kicked off a five day march from Marmet, WV to Blair Mountain.

Blair Mountain was the site of the second largest armed insurrection (after the Civil War) in U.S. history. 8000-10000 miners fighting for union rights took up arms against hired coal thugs. Blair Mountain has been an iconic symbol for both the U.S. labor movement and West Virginia itself. And now coal companies want to strip mine Blair Mountain. They’ve already stripped it of its historical preservation status and are now seeking permitting to strip mine it.

In fact, they’ve already begun strip mining on parts of it or so I hear.

You can tell the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection – “Don't let big coal destroy our history”, by sending a comment to tell them to protect Blair Mountain

While the 1921 marchers faced hardship and armed opposition (armed private security, bombs from planes, federal troops), the 2011 marchers are facing harassment by pro-coal supporters along the way. A tweet this morning from @marchonblairmt reported "Road has scattered clusters of opposition as honking coal trucks hug the the shoulder - marchers squeeze to fit on."

But this march is also seeing new alliances between United Mine Workers locals and environmentalists. Blair Mountain organizer and archaeologist Brandon Nida said at this morning’s press conference as the march kicked off, "The unions protect [workers] in the workplace and environmentalist protect them at home. They're the same"