Appalachian Regional Commission Greeted With Guiding Words

From Athens Rising Tide:

Athens, OH- Local residents dropped a banner with the words: “Dear A.R.C; New Energy, New Jobs, New Opportunities for Appalachia= NO NEW COAL” from the Richland Avenue bridge this morning to guide the Appalachian Regional Commissions’ discussion in the right direction: new energy and new jobs for Appalachia does not include new coal.
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“By making ‘new energy, new jobs, new opportunities for Appalachia’ the theme of this years conference, the A.R.C. is recognizing the importance of a sustainable energy economy in our region. And don’t get me wrong, that’s great, but I really hope they’re not sitting in that room thinking of ways to keep enabling the same thing they’ve been doing (blowing up mountains, putting massive sludge dams next to elementary schools, and constructing coal-fired power plants at an alarming rate) and calling it green, and sustainable, and a new opportunity. I want to believe that the A.R.C. is going to be a catalyst for making Appalachia a green-collar economic role model, but that is definitely not going to happen if coal stays in the picture.” Said a spokeswoman for Rising Tide Athens at this mornings’ event.

The annual Appalachian Regional Commission conference being hosted by the state of Ohio, is in attendance this week in Athens, discussing alternative energy and jobs throughout Appalachia.

The Rising Tide North America Athens Chapter took action today to make it clear that coal in its entire cycle is not a clean energy solution.

By sinking funding into carbon capture and sequestration or other “clean coal” technologies, the core issues of coal industry dependence fail to be addressed. Mountain top removal extraction, coal processing and washing practices resulting in sludge impoundments, and the consumption of coal-fired power continue to be issues that impact Appalachia.

Local citizens want the Appalachian Regional Commission to think critically about the effects that the coal industry has had on the Appalachian land, people and culture. The perpetuation of this dirty energy cycle will not revitalize the region, rather we need to focus on real, and truly clean energy opportunities for Appalachia.

About Mattie

Mattie is a member of the Ohio Student Environmental Coalition's Steering Committee, an organization he founded at Power Shift 07. He is proud to support a growing statewide network of student groups working for a clean, safe, and just future for all. Mattie originally got involved as a Syracuse University student who saw a pressing need for climate action, later as an Energy Justice Network intern who began to realize the human impacts of coal, and finally as an OSEC organizer committed to building an economy and climate worth fighting for. He also has a degree in women's studies and sociology, is a founding member of the Mountain Justice Spring Break Planning Collective and an intentional community in Columbus, and is the convener of the Energy Action Coalition's Anti-Oppression working group.

5 Responses to “Appalachian Regional Commission Greeted With Guiding Words”

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1 Maria Farinacci Oct 28th, 2009 at 2:56 am

This is a beautiful site… Strickland and the ARC needed to see this!
2 Leon Wood Oct 28th, 2009 at 4:48 pm

Coal may not be clean but is our only solution to our power needs. Surface mining our past, present and will continue to our future.
3 Eric Miller Oct 28th, 2009 at 8:43 pm

Coal is NOT the only solution to our power needs. We have to convert to wind and solar energy now and we also have to learn to life with less power. And coal will not always be our future, it will all be gone someday, and not too long from now.
4 Jim Nov 18th, 2009 at 11:49 am

Coal will not always be there anymore than forests were in the Northwest, or fish off the Atlantic Canadian coast.

Once a resource is gone, the jobs are gone….
And so is the natural resource!!