Below:

• ANWR safe for now...Shall we stop mountaintop removal next?

• Rep. Mollohan thinks mountaintop removal damage is a thing of the past?

• Visual aids to understand the effects of mountaintop removal

• Resolve to help in 2006--Environmental gains of past under attack

Thanks to everyone for your work to protect West Virginia. Thanks to all who supported OVEC in 2005. Here's to positive progress in 2006!

"I am new to politics; I had hated it and had been afraid of becoming a career politician. But I realized that politics had once been the science of serving the people, and that getting involved in politics is important if you want to help your people."
     --Evo Morales, newly-elected President of Bolivia

 ANWR safe for now...Shall we stop Mountaintop Removal Next?
Victory! Millions of  Americans called their Senators demanding that drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) not be allowed in Congress' latest budget wrangling.  ANWR is safe for now! However, expect the attack on ANWR to continue in 2006.  As Monte Hummel, President Emeritus of World Wildlife Fund-Canada noted, “Without a clear, sustainable energy policy that moves away from dependence on fossil fuels, conservationists will always be fighting a rear-guard action against the destruction of ecologically crucial places like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.” (And, we add, the Appalachians.)

Now imagine millions of Americans joining us in speaking out against mountaintop removal. Imagine millions demanding a national push for energy conservation and energy efficiency, and the development and implementation of truly cleaner alternative energy sources with an emphasis on microgeneration for households.

To thank your Senators for protecting ANWR, click here.

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Rep. Mollohan thinks mountaintop removal damage is a thing of the past?
In a Dec. 26 Charleston Gazette article, Rep. Alan Mollohan is quoted, "With regard to wind energy, the prospects are that West Virginia will be relegated to something of a colonial status with its resources being exploited by and for the benefit of outsiders, and with West Virginians being left with a legacy of environmental damage.

"If this set of circumstances sounds familiar to West Virginians, that's readily understandable, because it's happened here before.

"Up to now, the environmental damage suffered by this state has taken such forms as past, unregulated mountaintop mining and acid mine drainage. This time, the prospect is for destruction of wildlife and scenic views from a proliferation of industrial wind turbines on the state's mountain ridges."

Rep. Mollohan is living in la-la land if he thinks the environmental damage from mountaintop removal and acid mine drainage is past! Mountaintop removal is only regulated on paper; in reality coal companies violate their permits daily as part of business as usual. And has the man heard of the acid mine pools that lurk under much of northern West Virginia? Has he heard of the numerous coal-impacted streams that will have to be treated for acidity in perpetuity?

If you care to contact  Rep. Mollohan to remind him that mountaintop removal is still creating massive environmental and cultural damage, you can call him at  202-225-4172 or fax him at 202-225-7564.

Please also ask Rep. Mollohan -- or whoever your Rep. is -- to support the Clean Water Protection Act. If you live outside West Virginia, you may be able to thank your Rep. for supporting the bill. To see a list of the 62 co-sponsors of the bill so far, click here.

The Clean Water Protection Act would reverse a change to the Clean Water Act the Bush administration made for the coal companies that are destroying our mountains and streams.  Coal River Mountain Watch volunteer Bo Webb asks, "If Mr. Mollohan is truly concerned for our mountains and wildlife as he says, why has he not signed onto The Clean Water Protection Act, HR 2719?" 

For more info on the damages associated with mountaintop removal, visit this link, and this link.  Also click here, here, here and here.  To learn about acid mine pools, click here and to learn more about acid mine drainage, click here.

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 Visual aids to understand the effects of mountaintop removal
If you don't have time to examine all of the above links about the damage associated with mountaintop removal / valley fill coal mining, perhaps you have time to view the damage. Of course, you can peruse the OVEC photo galleries.  But for a really broad perspective, check out satellite images.

If you download Google Earth, you can "fly" over what once was the town of Kayford, WV.  Zoom out from Kayford until you can see the brown rectangle to the left. Zoom in there for some fairly detailed satellite images of mountaintop removal, valley fills and sludge impoundments. You can fly around anywhere in southern West Virginia to see the extent of mountaintop removal.

Zoom to Van, WV and check out the overview, as well as the horrifying details in the brown rectangle. Plug in Madison, WV and fly left to the dark green rectangle. Zoom in on the big blotch to see Arch Coal's Hobet 21 operation. Zoom in and out around Logan and Delbarton (and so many other towns!) to see the scale and scope of the destruction. Google hasn't posted exceedingly detailed satellite photos in this area yet as it has for many cities. Remember, too, that these images are up to three years old.

To calm down after seeing all this, take a few minutes to soothe your eyes In the Garden.

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 Resolve to help in 2006--Environmental gains of past under attack:
--Protect Your Right to Voice Your Opinion
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is one of the primary tools for citizen involvement in the federal government's environmental dealings. Just before Christmas, the Congressional NEPA Task Force released its report of initial findings and draft recommendations. The public can comment on the Task Force's recommendations through Feb. 3, 2006. As you can imagine, given the Bush administration's utter hostility to environmental matters and public input, the recommendations aren't swell at all. Stay tuned for more info.

--Protect the Endangered Species Act
We'll have more on the assault on the Endangered Species Act in upcoming Action Alerts. In the meantime, you can sign this petition and this one and send a note to Senators by clicking here.

--Protect Your Right to Know
The Toxics Release Inventory, a federal database, is the most complete and accessible record of the amount and kind of toxic substances released by industries in the "normal" course of business. A new federal proposal would let thousands of companies dump toxins such as lead and mercury into the air and water without reporting any details! Yup, the federal Environmental Protection Agency wants to weaken the reporting requirements from some businesses. Take preliminary action by clicking here, and stay tuned for more info on this, too.

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