Media Advisory

July 27, 2005

Friends of the Mountains                                            

MEDIA ADVISORY                                                                                     07/27/05

Contacts: Bo Webb 304-854-2182; Vivian Stockman 304-522-0246 or (cell on Saturday) 304-360-1979; Hillary Hosta 304-854-2324

What:   Stop Mountaintop Removal Rally

When:   Noon, Saturday, July 30

Where : The Capitol Circle, north side of the State Capitol      Charleston, W.Va.

Why:     Mountaintop removal is a crime against people and the earth. Mountaintop removal is economic insanity.

We believe mountaintop removal is an illegal and immoral form of coal-mining that is destroying the culture and environment of Southern West Virginia and other parts of the Appalachians. We demand that our kids’ futures be protected. We demand an end mountaintop removal!

Who:     The Friends of the Mountains and

Mountain Justice Summer

Friends of the Mountains is a coalition of groups and individuals committed to ending mountaintop removal. Members include Coal River Mountain Watch, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition ,   Coalfield Sustainability Project, Keepers of the Mountains Foundation, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and West Virginia Chapter Sierra Club.  

Mountain Justice Summer is a campaign that seeks to add to the growing anti- mountaintop removal citizens’ movement. Mountain Justice Summer seeks to protect the cultural and natural heritage of the Appalachian coalfields through grassroots organizing, public education, nonviolent civil disobedience and other forms of citizen action.

Visuals:   Musicians, Radical Cheerleaders, Ms. Mountaintop Removal Beauty Contest and more.

###