Three activists are sitting in the trees, blocking the illegal construction of an access road up Coal River Mountain.
Since blasting started on Coal River Mountain this fall, the local campaign has reached fever pitch. The highest and last remaining mountain in the Coal River Valley is under attack from Massey, a company that routinely violates its permits when it feels like they aren't important.
Xylem wrote earlier today about the action already, so I want to pile on a little bit with a report from Rock Creek, WV.
I'm sitting with the coms team who are reaching out to media outlets all over the country to tell this story. DemocracyNow! picked it up, as well. Watch 7 minutes in. Read the Charleston Daily Mail, Jeff Biggers great piece on Alternet and a really comprehensive look by Becca Rast on ItsGettingHotInHere.org.
Some serious concerns with Massey (a partial list):
Massey is operating off their permitted site. They can fell trees if the land company is ok with it, but they can't build a road off the permit site.
The company has been using high-decibel sound devices for the past 24 hours to cause psychological and possibly physical damage to the sitters.
The 2 people on ground support were arrested and remain in jail. Please donate to their jail support.
The big concern, of course, is that a wind farm on Coal River Mountain would provide more income for the county and a much longer-term source of jobs. The lower the mountain is blasted down, the less wind potential there is.
The Activists:
The tree sit, executed by the Climate Ground Zero campaign, are friends that I've know from climate activism all over this country. Talented activists that I've worked with, trained, been trained by or have respected through their contributions from afar. Josh Grapuara, one of the ground support crew arrested yesterday, lived with me in the Action Factory this summer. On media support, Becca Rast lived with us as well, and Carolyn was part of the Action Factory this fall. In addition, connections through the Sierra Student Coalition
These are people who are willing to do a lot to protect the mountains, and people who are drawn to the center of the action. They see the violent extraction of coal as the very heart of the problems the world faces.
What you can do:
Follow #CoalRiverTreeSit, @MtnAction and @CoalIsDirty for updates on twitter.
And please donate to the bail fund so that our the support team currently sitting in jail can get out.
Press Release Here