She had never been on a train before in her life. She had rarely been beyond the borders of West Virginia and Kentucky. And now, in May, Donetta Blankenship was on her way to New York City, to speak before the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development as it reviewed its "Energy for Sustainable Development" plans.

Donetta was traveling with ten other coalfield residents, including Patricia Feeney, who, before she joined OVEC’s staff, coordinated this trip to the UN, working with several groups in three states.

The coalfield delegation – six folks from West Virginia, four from Kentucky and one from Tennessee – presented their stories to civil society caucuses at the UN and met with U.S. State Department representatives and officials in the Department of Energy. They put a human face on the real tolls of our nation’s apparent energy policy: "Cheap" energy, at any, usually hidden cost.

The UN trip received quite a bit of publicity, including a spot on West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Inside Appalachia and in the New York Post. A documentary filmmaker followed the group from Mingo County to New York City.