Media Advisory

May 7, 2007

Contacts:  Tricia Fenney, (304) 360-2110
Ailis Aaron Wolf, (703) 276-3265 or aaaron@hastingsgroup.com
Kevin Pentz, (606) 335-0764

What:  Press Conference from Appalachian Coalfield Delegation now at United Nations to Expose Coal Industry Abuses

When:  2 p.m. Tuesday, May 8 , 2007

Where:  Dag Hammarskjold Plaza Park, on East 47th Street between United Nations Plaza (1st Avenue) and 2nd Avenue, New York, New York 

Who:  Speakers include:
--Ann League, coalfield resident and vice president, Save Our Cumberland Mountains, Lake City, TN;
--Judy Bonds, coalfield resident and organizer, Coal River Mountain Watch, Whitesville, WV;
--Erica Urias, coalfield resident and member, Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, London, KY;
--Larry Gibson, coalfield resident and board member, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Huntington, WV.

Why: Coal industry extraction abuses have destroyed more than one million acres of forests, 500 mountains and 1,000 miles of streams in recent years in the Appalachian region of the United States.  The groups will urge the UN Commission to embrace greater use of renewable energy and cuts in fossil fuel consumption. They’ll ask the UN Commission to shun coal-to-liquid and so-called “clean coal” technologies.

Every year in central Appalachia, one million metric tons of explosives are used by the coal industry to blow up our mountains, equaling the explosive force of 58 Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs.  The impacts do not stop at a mountain's edge: homes are damaged by blasting and increased flooding, and entire communities have been forced out as a direct result of the impacts of massive strip mines.  With the beauty of our mountains destroyed, much of the landscape unable to support native forests, and water supplies frequently contaminated, communities in Appalachia are left with few economic alternatives other than the coal companies that are destroying the region and our way of life.

Visuals / NOTE:   Large photographs and banners illustrating the impact of coal mining in Appalachia will be on display at the event.  Digital copies of the photos are available for media use only by contacting Vivian Stockman at vivian@ohvec.org or 304-522-0246.  Credit/copyright requirements will be detailed for media outlets interested in using the photos.