Voices of the Coalfields, Voices of Mountain Lovers Heard Near and Far!

Letters to the editor, one of the most heavily-read sections of newspapers, are a great free way to counter the lies. Show our power and make your voice heard by writing letters to the editors. No matter where you live, we are asking that you regularly write to your local newspaper, as well as other papers across the state and nation.

Try to keep your letters short, about 200 words (this varies depending on the paper). Be sure to include your name, town and phone number (it won’t be published; it’s only used to verify with you that the letter is yours). You can get contact information for almost any paper in the nation at www.newslink.org/.

Here are some recent letters to the editors. For the Sake of the Mountains – Write!

Mining coal only darkens our future

Huntington Herald-Dispatch, April 14, 2005

Our sons and daughters are in Iraq because George W. Bush started an unprovoked war with Iraq.

What the Iraq mess has to do with coal production in West Virginia is known only to the Logan Coal Vendors Association and the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce. It has nothing whatever to do with freedom in the U.S.

It is very difficult for me to believe the Logan Coal Vendors Association would stoop so low as to even try to equate coal production with patriotism and the ‘future of our children and grandchildren.”

Why not just come right out and say, “raping West Virginia of her natural resources is the patriotic and Christian thing to do. The more mountains we destroy, the greater will be our reward in Heaven.”

In fact, the more coal we rip from our scenic and wondrous mountains the more bleak the future of our children and grandchildren will be. Only the Don Blankenships of the world would think otherwise.

Bill Morefield
Princeton, W.Va.

Mountaintop mining is illegal under law

Huntington Herald-Dispatch, April 14, 2005

Mountaintop removal is against the law. There are ample laws to protect people that are being ignored by state and federal government, like the Clean Water Act, which makes valley fills illegal. This means that government agencies are conspiring with the coal companies in criminal activities.

Without enforcement of these laws, the health and well-being of all West Virginians is endangered by outside companies like Massey who care nothing for the beauty of our state and the well-being of our residents.

We as West Virginians should come together to demand that these laws are enforced to their fullest extent and call for the prosecution of any violators. We should demand that Stephanie Timmermeyer of the Department of Environmental Protection stop permits for mountaintop removal, a criminal practice that causes floods, damages people’s wells and homes, and produces millions of gallons of toxic sludge.

This is not coal mining. This is simply raping and destroying of our land. Deep mining creates more jobs.

There are some Christians who say that Jesus is coming anyway, and we don’t have to worry about this destruction. This cannot be an excuse for us to allow something that God would really dislike. Do people quit their jobs because Jesus is coming? Then neither should we stop working to end this madness of mountaintop removal.

Michael Morrison
Barboursville

Hills not filled with the sound of music

Charleston Gazette, March 3, 2005

The hills of West Virginia are not filled with the sounds of music. They are filled to the horrific screams of Walker

Big Cats ripping the guts out of the mountains and roars of dynamite blowing up the hillsides and destroying our life-sustaining water. The sounds of the screeching machines sound out the death and destruction of the inevitable floods and disasters.

The sounds in the Legislature are not an orchestra of justice for the coalfield residents, but the same old anthem that is sung by the patriots of the coal corporations.

The day that Bush grabbed power was the day the music died. The parents/grandparents of the sacrificed children hear taps played out as yet another generation is brought home from the war to be buried.

The corporate-owned media are the dancing monkeys that are tied to the organ grinder as the people of West Virginia are expected to be spectators of the farcical entertainment as the cup is filled with the taxpayer’s money.

Another song with different lyrics needs to be sung. We must celebrate life with songs of protest and create an organized orchestra of harmonic chords of resistance. This band needs instruments, singers and lyricists.

Winnie Fox
Huntington

Manchin, Massey Not Our Kings

Charleston Gazette, Jan. 27, 2005

Why does the new governor want to silence the citizens’ employees? Does it have something to do with the recent commitment to speed up mining permits, including mountaintop removal permits through the DEP office?

Stephanie Timmermeyer’s job was in jeopardy before the election until she made a public statement that the mining permits will be processed more quickly.

Are we now becoming a police state ruled by Massey’s Don Blankenship and other coal barons through a puppet governor’s office? Is our state poised for the final rape? We in the coalfields will not be silenced.

It is time for all West Virginians to stand up for their rights. The governor is not king, and neither are the coal barons. It’s time to take back our rights!

Bo Webb
Naoma