Below:

• Tonight: ABC World News and Nightline Examine Massey CEO and WV High Court

• Say No to More Mountaintop Removal Above Marsh Fork Elementary

• Support Stop Mountaintop Removal Lobby Week--Call Your Rep Tomorrow

• Solutions: Baked Alaska, Climate Chaos In West Virginia

• April 25: Huntington-Area Meet the Candidates Forum

• Earth Day Goings On Across West Virginia

• May 13--What a Day!

• New Way to Support OVEC

• Sierra Club Film Fest Includes Several Docs on Movement to End Mountaintop Removal

• Upcoming Events

 Tonight: ABC World News and Nightline Examine Massey CEO and WV High Court
Check your local listings and tune in tonight to ABC World News and Nightline for reports on Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship's relation$hip to West Virginia Supreme Court.  The segments will include footage of a scuffle between the Massey CEO and an ABC newsman.

Note that scheduled news segments can be bumped by other developments. For instance, last year ABC News aired a segment on Marsh Fork Elementary School. A longer segment was supposed to air that evening on Nightline, but the story apparently never aired...

Is Don Blankenship making the universal "Stop Mountaintop Removal!" gesture? Well, probably not.  But the United Mine Workers of America might be...click here to read that story.

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 Say No to More Mountaintop Removal Above Marsh Fork Elementary
Speaking of Marsh Fork Elementary and Massey, please note the DEP has granted an informal conference to hear objections to Massey Energy's (Alex Energy) Edwight mountaintop removal coal mining permit. The expansion would add another 130 acres to an already-permitted 1,849 acres of mountaintop removal above coal sludge dam above the elementary school.  The informal conference is set  for 6 p.m. Monday, April 14 at the Marsh Fork Elementary School. Come on out and tell DEP that if the agency can't regulate these chronic lawbreakers (Massey), then it has no business issuing permits. For more information, contact vernoncrmw(at)gmail.com.

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 Support Stop Mountaintop Removal Lobby Week--Call Your Rep Tomorrow
Support the more than 125 folks in DC right now for Stop Mountaintop Removal Lobby Week. Please take five minutes out of your day to take action. Call your Representative tomorrow, Tuesday April 8, and ask her or him to support HR 2169, the Clean Water Protection Act. Then, please call your Senators to ask them to support a companion bill to HR 2169, the Clean Water Protection Act. Follow the links above to find your Congressional office-holders' names and DC phone numbers.   

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 Solutions: Baked Alaska, Climate Chaos In West Virginia
Dr. Deborah Williams, President of Alaska Conservation Solutions, is Alaska's foremost spokesperson on global warming. She will give a series of free presentations in several West Virginia cities. Dr. Williams will address the alarming consequences already evident in Alaska and the commonalities between our state and hers—where impacts on wildlife, water quality, recreation, and tourism have enormous consequences. She offers practical carbon-reducing strategies that not only reduce emissions but also protect human health, save money and increase America's energy independence. Dr. Williams will educate and inspire, with ample time for interactive dialogue.

Thursday, April 10: 6:30 p.m. Come hear Deborah Williams, President of Alaska Conservation Solutions at the Marie Redd Center, 1750 Ninth Avenue Huntington, WV. Deborah is keenly sensitive to the problems that coal states such as West Virginia face in this arena, and her approach is a very positive and problem-solving one. She offers practical carbon-reducing strategies that not only reduce emissions but also protect human health, save money and increase America's energy independence. Talk sponsored by OVEC and Huntington-Cabell NAACP. Admission is free and we will provide light refreshments.

Thursday, April 10 at 1:00 p.m. in the Geary Student Union Ballroom at the University of Charleston. Sponsored by the West Virginia Environmental Council.

Sunday, April 13: 11 a.m.  'The Tragedy of Baked Alaska' at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 520 Kanawha Blvd. West, Charleston, WV. From the disappearance of Chinook salmon in the Pacific Northwest to the rogue storm that recently hit Atlanta, GA, effects of global warming and climate change are showing up all around us. Come learn more about how to be a part of the solution.

As we obtain the information, we will post info on Dr. Williams' other West Virginia engagements on our website's calendar page.

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April 25: Huntington-Area Meet the Candidates Forum
Huntington-area residents will have an opportunity to meet local candidates during a special event from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Friday, April 25, at the A.D. Lewis Community Center, located at 1450 A.D. Lewis Ave in Huntington. The free event is hosted by the Huntington-Cabell branch of the NAACP and OVEC. All candidates for city council, mayor, sheriff, board of education and magistrate are invited to participate in the event. Get informed, then vote!

Reminder: To vote in West Virginia's May 13 primary election, you must be registered by April 22. You can register to vote at the county clerk's office or you can mail in a registration form.  April 22 is also the last day to change your political party or file for registration if you've moved to a new county.

Kentucky's primary election is May 20; April 21 is the last day to register to vote and May 19 is the last day to apply for absentee ballots.  

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 Earth Day Goings On Across West Virginia
April 22, Earth Day: DEP Oversight Press Conference & Open Public Hearing 12 p.m. Capitol Building, Charleston, WV. OVEC joins once again with the WV State Workers Union, UE 170 to demand that the legislature do an investigation into the functioning of the DEP. Come help us deliver the $2.4 billion check that the state missed out on due to DEP’s failure to enforce the law. You can help collect signatures for the petition before this event. All the info you need is here.

April 22, Earth Day: WV Premiere of  "Burning the Future: Coal in America" 6:30 p.m. This documentary—featuring OVEC volunteers and staff—opens the 23rd Annual West Virginia International Film Festival, at the WVSU Capitol Center Theater, 123 Summers St. Charleston, WV. Please come out to see this moving, motivating documentary.

For information on more Earth Day events in southern West Virginia, click here and here.

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 May 13--What a Day!
May 13: Richmond, Va. The 4th U.S. Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear oral arguments in our mountaintop removal lawsuit. Read more here.

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 New Way to Support OVEC
If you support OVEC's work, we have an easy, new way you can help keep our work going. Click here to make a $10 to $100 recurring monthly donation. Recurring donations help build OVEC's sustainability and help us with our long-term planning, since we can better estimate our members' donations. Remember, donations to OVEC are tax deductible. Please dot the "recurring monthly donation button" to set up your $10 -$100 recurring donation to OVEC after following this link. Thank you!

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 Sierra Club Film Fest Includes Several Docs on Movement to End Mountaintop Removal
Click here to find out more Sierra Club's Solutions for a Warming Planet Energy Film Festival. OVEC volunteers and staff have played a role in several of the featured films.  

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 Upcoming Events
Here are just a few upcoming events. You'll find many more on our website's calendar page.

April 17:  2:15 p.m. The feature documentary Mountain Top Removal screens at the Appalachian Film Festival in Huntington, WV.

April 18 - 20: Sustainable Fair 2008 ~ "Green Makes $en$e" Davis & Elkins College Campus - Elkins, WV. The fair focuses on sustainable topics including energy, sustainable economic development, food & agriculture, health, architecture, eco tourism, public policy, transportation, small businesses and more.   More info.

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