|
|
 
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
OVEC Action Alert - May 10, 2005 |
 |
DEP Workshop and Sludge film Saturday
Help Stop Mountaintop Removal --Support the Clean Water Protection Act!
The May Winds of Change, OVEC’s newsletter, is now online.
Celebrate the victory! Historic status recommended for Blair Mountain. Congratulations and thank you! to everyone who took part in securing this nomination for Blair Mountain.
Beginning at 9:30 a.m. at the DEP office in Kanawha City, learn more about the mountaintop removal permitting process and how citizens can get involved to make a difference. DEP chief Stephanie Timmermeyer had the gall to send out a press release acting like this workshop was the DEP’s idea, even though it is something citizens have been demanding for a long time. In the press release, she said citizens could learn how to support or oppose a permit at this workshop. Oh yeah, we bet citizens will show up to learn how they can help get more mountains blown up, more streams buried and more communities dislocated. No way! We will be there to find out if there are any ways to stop permits that we have been missing. More details at the May 14 entry on the OVEC website calendar page.
After the training is over, head over to the LaBelle Theatre in South Charleston for the first WV Labor History Film Fest. Our good friends Jack Spadaro and Davitt McAteer will be in attendance, introducing Monogah, a film that Davitt produced, and Sludge, a documentary about the 2000 Massey Energy coal sludge disaster and Jack’s role in exposing the corruption behind the disaster. Coalr River Mountain Watch and OVEC members and staff were also filmed for this documentary. The films begin at 7 p.m. At 6 p.m., Bill Blizzard will be in the theatre to sign copies of his new book about the Battle of Blair Mountain, When Miners March. More details at the May 14 entry on the OVEC website calendar page.
Coal River Mountain Watch asks that you attend an "informal hearing" to protest the permit to construct and operate a second coal silo at Marsh Fork Elementary School. The hearing is at 6 p.m. on May 26 at the Marsh Fork Elementary School in Sundial, WV. The hearing also addresses Massey Energy’s renewal of a permit for the dangerous coal sludge impoundment that sits above the school. For more information, contact Coal River at 304-854-2182.
Post Blankenship Debate--Still Here
Huge thanks to everyone who e-mailed and called after seeing Decision Makers. I heard from a few folks that WV Media Holdings aired Friday night and Saturday morning promotional segments about the show (this same "news" segment aired after the 8 a.m. Sunday showing of Decision Makers), in which Don Blankenship, interviewed alone after our debate, got in the last word. He apparently called me an environmental extremist who doesn’t stick to the facts, whose arguments are exaggerated hyperbole. That’s really kind of funny. Blankenship was the one with few facts. He has obviously studied the Karl Rove/ Frank Luntz playbook--repeating a set of Orwellian talking points over and over, the truth be damned. Some of you who e-mailed, about Blankenship getting in his final dig after I was gone, were really ticked off that the TV station (investors in WV Media Holdings include at least one coal baron) would allow this. You asked for contact info: decisionmakers@wvmh.com.
The truth is what hurts mountaintop removers--our side has nothing to hide and nothing to gain by lying. I did make several mistakes out of nervousness. For instance, I said the sludge spill Massey Energy caused was 3 billion gallons, whereas we all know it was 306 million gallons. And, it is 2-3 million pounds of explosives used each day (not each week) that mountaintop removers use to annihilate our coal-bearing mountains in Southern West Virginia. That is extreme!
Help Stop Mountaintop Removal --Support the Clean Water Protection Act
Appalachian Voices is presenting Appalachian Treasures in many Congressional districts this spring and summer. If you live in these districts (see list below),or have contacts there, please contact Christina Wulf at apptreasures@bellsouth.net. Christina needs help setting up presentation venues, inviting people to the shows and getting people in these districts to contact their Representatives. For a list of all Representatives that we are asking constituents to contact about the Clean Water Protection Act, click here.
MAY 9th - 21st (weekend off): PENNSYLVANIA
Top Priority Districts:
*Rep. Allyson Schwartz (13th) - parts of Philadelphia & Montgomery Co.
*Rep. Bill Shuster (9th) - Altoona, Chambersburg, Indiana, Somerset,
Waynesboro, Hollidaysburg
*Rep. Jim Gerlach (6th) - Exton, Wyomissing, Trappe, Pottstown,
Coatesville, Phoenixville, Norristown, Ardmore
Second Tier Priorities:
*Rep. Tim Holden - Harrisburg, Hershey, Pottsville
*Rep. Charles Dent - Bethlehem, Allentown, Emmaus, Easton
*Rep. Todd Platts - Carlisle, Shiloh, Hanover, York, Mechanicsburg
May 31st - June 2nd: MISSISSIPPI
*Rep. Taylor - Biloxi, Gulfport, Hattiesburg, Pascagoula, Laurel, Ocean
Springs
June 14th - 16th: ARKANSAS
* Rep. Boozeman - Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Springdale, Harrison,
Clarksville, Russellville
June 20th or 21st - 24th or 25th: TENNESSEE
* Rep. Duncan - Knoxville, Farragut, Powell, Maryville, Athens,
Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg
June 27th or 28th - July 1st or 2nd: MINNESOTA-
* Rep. Oberstar - Duluth, HIBBING!, Grand Rapids, Virginia,
International Falls, Little Falls, Brainerd, Cloquet
|
OVEC Home Issues Contact Join Site Map |
|