It’s Getting Hot In Here

Tim Aubrey

On the President’s 100th day, join impacted communities in solidarity by telling Obama and Congress your own story.

Today marks President Obama’s eighty-second day of office. I know because it’s my job to count: each morning I mark the days since our new President told us to, “pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”

I count other things too: actions groups have taken with Power Past Coal since inauguration (that’s 202 today), Focus the Nation town halls (103), new coal plants denied permits (95 and counting), mountaintop removal permits withheld by the EPA (3 more last week), revenue that wind turbines on Coal River Mountain could bring to the local community (1.7 million), and the President’s commitments to regulating carbon dioxide emissions from coal plants (1) and coal ash from sludge ponds (1).

There are some things I’ve seen in these eighty-two days that are more difficult to quantify. First, the disbelief, the elation, then the deep disappointment I watched on my neighbors faces in the Coal River Valley when the EPA’s supposed hold on all mountaintop removal permits led Lisa Jackson to clarify that most of the pending permits would “not raise environmental concern.” Second, the stoic determination with which my neighbors and fellow activists returned to work the next morning. False alarm: Coal River Mountain was far from saved, and there was no time for rest.

And I can’t begin to quantify this movement we’ve been witnessing. There are countless communities in every region of this country who still bear the burden of dirty coal, but who are just beginning to find their voice. For the first time in history, these impacted communities have come together in a united call to action. They’ve been the “people power” behind Power Past Coal’s 100 Days project, and the voices behind this new letter they hope you’ll sign.

On President Obama’s 100^th Day, six delegates of these impacted communities are coming to DC to represent the growing movement in front of Congress. They come from Chicago’s asthma ridden inner city, Pennsylvania’s longwall mining region, the Powder River Basin’s stripped and dried farms, the Black Mesa Navajo reservation’s coalfields, North Carolina’s mercury-polluted valleys, and Kentucky’s leveled mountaintops.

But when the delegates present their case for a transition away from coal, they won’t be the only voices in the room. They plan to deliver a stack of letters, thousands deep, each attached with its own coal story.

To join in solidarity with impacted community members, fellow climate activists, and other concerned citizens, please sign our letter and add your story – on the 100^th day, we’ll prove to Obama the diversity and power of this beautiful movement.