April Foolish Fuels Day in Wise, VA

Reposted from allies in Wise County, VA

Yesterday, April 1, 2009, several concerned citizens gathered just off Dominion Power’s property located in Wise County, Virginia for “APRIL FOOLISH FUELS DAY.”

Pics here wise-1

Construction is in progress there for a 585 megawatt coal-fired power plant. Dominion Power has said that this plant will burn only Virginia coal but already about 30% of wise County has been devastated by MTR (mountain top removal).
While giant trucks and excavators plow into this once beautiful valley in east Wise County to construct this monster plant, the mountains in the west end of the county are blown up daily to extract coal. The mountain top is then scraped off into the valleys below and the streams are forever buried.

I call that FOOLISH FUEL.

For over a year many people from all regions of Virginia and beyond have been actively fighting this plant project. We have attended and spoken at all public hearings during the permitting process, have contacted our Senators, Congressmen and Governor and have exhausted almost every avenue available under the law.

In September of last year, eleven people were arrested when they locked themselves arm to arm inside barrels, blocking the main entrance to this same plant site. That was the first on-site action but it will not be the last. Every month we will be standing with flags flying, demanding clean energy and an end to the destructive nature of coal, from the process of extraction and burning of coal to the dumping and sludge impoundments of waste coal products.

Today, we must all take a stand for justice and firght for the preservation of planet Earth. Join us.

1 Response to “April Foolish Fuels Day in Wise, VA”


  1. 1 David Locke Apr 3rd, 2009 at 4:35 pm

    I think the group has done well, but should now focus its energy elsewhere. The law is no longer in favor of their pursuit. I suggest that the group concentrate on getting a viable (includes “reasonable”) cap-and-trade bill through Congress to deal with the CO2 issue, which has the potential to do much more good for the country in the near future, especially if incentives were to be created to encourage the clean-up of older coal-fired plants that are partially exempt from EPA clean air regulations.

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About


Scott Parkin is a Senior Campaigner with Rainforest Action Network and organizes with Rising Tide North America. He has worked on a variety of campaigns around climate change, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, mountaintop removal, labor issues and anti-corporate globalization. Originally from Texas, he now lives in San Francisco.

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