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Sign The Power Plant Principles Document Today
More Bush Whacks That Enable MTR and Threaten Environment Nationwide
Toxic Sludge Is Good For You--Meeting with ATSDR about the Sludge Spill
Depends on Your Definition of "Legal"
OVEC MEMBERS FIGHT ARCH COAL
Tomorrow, Wed. Sep. 10, the WV Supreme Court will decide whether it will hear the case of OVEC members Leon and Lucille Miller who are trying to keep Ark Land (Arch Coal) from taking their family's beautiful homeplace on Mud River in Lincoln County. Arch wants the property for mountaintop removal and valley fill. Ark Land apparently tricked some of the heirs of this property into selling their shares. Other heirs frequent the property for family reunions--practically every weekend. Please keep the Millers in your thoughts tomorrow. We really need the Supreme Court to hear this case. Read more about it:
Lincoln family wants land sale overturned; Coal company made purchase through 'partition sale'
POWER PLANT PRINCIPLES-A MATTER OF GOOD FAITH
From WVICCC: The West Virginia Interfaith Climate Change Campaign is circulating a statement on Power Plant Principles (see "A CALL FOR RESPONSIBLE POWER PLANT PLANNING" at the bottom of this alert) to people of faith in the state. Please prayerfully consider this statement and your willingness to add your name to the list of people who support these principles and be part of our growing network. Our goal is 500 names by September 15 Send your name, mailing address, email address, and faith group to: Marcia Leitch, Coordinator, P.O. Box 226 Talcott, West Virginia, 24981. Phone: (304) 466-0982. E-mail: jmleitch@mountain.net. Join the network at www.protectingcreation.org
MORE BUSH WHACKS THAT ENABLE MTR AND THREATEN ENVIRONMENT NATIONWIDE
If you have any doubt about the need for campaign finance reform on both the state and national level, follow the links below. OVEC is leading the statewide push for Clean Elections. To learn more about that, check out OVEC's campaign finance reform section.
Stories like these are posted daily to the news potions of the OVEC website: Down Upon the Suwannee River
Most streams, many wetlands could lose protection
Green for Greenbacks? Bush's Record Under Fire
Bush Administration Fulfills Wish List for Corporate America
The Rollback Machine
TOXIC SLUDGE IS GOOD FOR YOU--MEETING WITH ATSDR ABOUT THE SLUDGE SPILL
Hey, wanna have fun? Come on out to a public meeting with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR, www.atsdr.cdc.gov) on Tuesday, Sept. 23 from 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. at the Roy Collier Community Center, 1200 Main Street in Inez, Kentucky.
Remember the Oct. 11, 2000 sludge spill where 306 million gallons of black goo burst out of a coal waste impoundment at an MTR operation, burying people's yards in sludge and contaminating about 100 miles of waterways on the Kentucky-West Virginia border? The EPA called this the southeast's worst-ever environmental disaster, and it was brought to you by those self-advertised Good Neighbors, Massey Energy.
In their study of the "release," ATSDR basically concludes that there was no significant human health risk from the tsunami of sludge. That's right girls and boys--Toxic Sludge is Good For You!
ATSDR says, "During the public meeting, agency representatives will listen to your public health concerns related to the Martin County Coal Slurry Release site, and they will discuss ATSDR's public health consultation process. In addition, after the public meeting the public availability session will take place. At that time, ATSDR staff will be available to meet with you on a one-to-one basis regarding your individual health concerns."
If you are wondering about the ATSDR's study conclusions that the sludge disaster didn't seem to affect human health, you may want to check out the report "Inconclusive by Design".
DEPENDS WHAT YOUR DEFINITION OF "LEGAL" IS
Did you catch the Sunday Gazette Mail letter (two Sundays ago) to the editor from Wes Virginia Coal Association Vice President Chris Hamilton? If not, here it is:
Editor:
Charles Peters' column on Aug. 10, "More Mining Rules Needed," stirred some interest in your readership but offered no substance or basis of fact whatsoever.
This is indeed unfortunate because many of us within your readership, who just happen to be "Friends of Coal," have held our faith in your journalistic honesty. You could have avoided this topic altogether, you could have sought better balance and objectivity, but, instead, you elected to placate a few populists.
You condemned a lawful mining practice and extractive technology, which you obviously know nothing about and incidentally sustains thousands of good paying jobs and stimulates over $2 billion in overall economic activity in West Virginia. Coal mining generally, and, yes, mountaintop mining methods remain a viable component of West Virginia's industrial base and economy. So keep tilting at windmills, but leave the mining and real energy production to the experts.
--Chris R. Hamilton (his position as WV Coal Assoc VP was not ID'ed).
Lawful mining practice? Pul-eeze! Experts at what? Corrupting influence on state and national politics, perhaps.
Here's just one recent news story on the "lawful mining practice" of mountaintop removal:
EPA review finds 274 valley fill violations www.wvgazette.com/section/News/Other%20News/200309047
A CALL FOR RESPONSIBLE POWER PLANT PLANNING
From the West Virginia Interfaith Global Climate Change Campaign:
What We Believe
We believe in the following moral principles:
We have a responsibility towards all of God's children. Power plant emissions pose a growing threat to human health because of global warming.
We have a responsibility towards our own children and grandchildren. Their health tomorrow is affected by the harmful air pollution that is produced today.
We stand shoulder to shoulder with people who live in poverty in our own country and around the world. The poorer someone is, the less chance they have to escape the harmful effects of air pollution and global warming.
We recognize God's call for us to be good stewards of the balance of creation that sustains all life on earth. In respecting creation, we also respect the Creator. What We Support
We support the following actions by government and industry related to climate change and the reduction of global warming:
1: Require reductions in emissions of the four major power plant pollutants (the 4 Ps): carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury.
2: Require that all power plants, including older coal-fired plants, meet appropriate modern standards for pollution sources. Set reasonable time frames for bringing older plants into compliance.
3. Apply these requirements to any planning for new power plants and support the development of new viable jobs and energy sources as alternatives to coal-fired plants. We invite you to sign on in support of this statement of principles and actions.
Please see reverse of this sheet for additional information.
Who We Are
We are Christians, Jews, Muslims, and members of other faith groups, united by our common belief of the preciousness of all life. The Interfaith Global Climate Change Campaign of West Virginia is one of many state campaigns active in a national Interfaith Climate & Energy Campaign. This coalition of religious leaders, institutions, and individuals have been working to a) educate congregants and the general public about the causes and effects of global climate change and b) to speak out about the religious and moral imperatives to protect all creation - human and non-human. Over 1,200 leading religious leaders have joined in calling for federal policies for energy conservation and climate justice. Concerns about the effects of climate change have also been documented in a report from the current Bush administration to the United Nations and in The Framework Convention of Climate Change, which was signed by the former President Bush and unanimously ratified by the U.S. Senate.
Why We Care
* Too much carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is changing the Earth's climate.
* The largest source of carbon dioxide in the United States is the electric power industry, which accounts for about 40% of all U.S. emissions.
* More than 88% of the carbon dioxide emissions come from older coal-fired facilities.
* The older coal-fired power plants are also a source of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide, which cause smog and asthma and other breathing-related illnesses, and mercury exposure, which can cause birth defects.
Minimal target levels for reductions in emissions of the four pollutants are:
Carbon dioxide: to 1990 levels Nitrogen oxides: to 75% from 1997 levels Sulfur dioxide: by 75% below Phase II Acid Rain levels; and Mercury: by 90% from 1999 levels We agree with the following statement by senior religious leaders from America's leading faith groups:
"At stake are the future of creation on earth; the nature and durability of our economy; our public health and public lands; [and] the environment and quality of life we bequeath our children and grandchildren. We are being called to consider national purpose not just policy."
Won't You Join Us?
We, West Virginians, have the power to change things! To sign onto the Power Plants Principle pledge, contact:
Marcia Leitch, Coordinator, P.O. Box 226 Talcott, West Virginia 24981 (304) 466-0982, jmleitch@mountain.net. Join the network at www.protectingcreation.org
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