It’s Getting Hot In Here

Wednesday, January 6

Nothing says “Happy new year” like kilotons of TNT blasting down your horizon and burying your streams, and a deposit of millions of cubic yards of hazardous waste into already devastated valleys. That’s Pres. Obama and the EPA’s new years greeting card to the folks in Lincoln, West Virginia.

Nothing says “you betrayed us” like a rowdy gang of anti-mountaintop removal activists at EPA HQ in DC during the morning rush, holding giant red letters spelling out “SHAME” and chanting down the EPA staff’s resolve to keep appeasing the coal barons. (Actually, there are much better ways to say it, but we had a night to plan and the underfunded, volunteer-driven anti-MTR movement does what we can with what we’ve got.)

The bad news didn’t reach most of us at DC Rising Tide (DCRT) until last night’s meeting. On Tuesday, Patriot Coal got the EPA go-ahead to start blasting through 3 miles of mountain streams in Lincoln, WV. The Hobet 45 mine, named for the Patriot subsidiary in charge, is the first major Appalachian MTR coal mining permit to be loosed from the 79 suspended for EPA review last year. DCRT wasn’t about to let it go unnoticed.

Late-night text blasts for recruiting, media prep, and a 1AM press advisory, and then a little sleep for the Wednesday morning action.

“Mountaintop removal does not deserve EPA approval/ That’s madness—insane/ Lisa Jackson, what a shame!” Our chants and signs had heads turning as droves of government workers climbed out of the Federal Triangle Metro and into the EPA. We got plenty thumbs up and had a good number of “What’s this all about?” conversations while tens of security and police piled on the entrances, no doubt worried about another sit-in. Haha, not this time.

All said and done, we reached the people we were aiming for and made some good inroads with the press. The short timeline hurt our coverage. It was scant, but NPR greeted AM commuters with announcements of environmentalists’ disgust with the new permit. Emails from curious journalists have us optimistic about future coverage as the story heats up.

With Monday’s announcement of a 60-stay favoring the anti-MTR challenge at Spruce, WV, it’s clear that the Hobet 45 decision was a move by Obama and Jackson to maintain the balance and appease the wrathful coal barons. This policy is a disgrace, but we refuse to let Hobet 45 set the tone for 2010. We have to keep organizing and escalating in DC and in the coalfields until the administration recognizes that we are the ones they must appease.

more photos here

Speaking of coal barons riding the Obama administration, we can’t wait to see Massey Coal CEO, the West Virginia cartoon villain Don Blankenship stumble and fall at his Jan. 21 debate with Robert Kennedy Jr. Think Elmer Fudd vs. Bugs Bunny. A good laugh for a long fight.

The anti-MTR movement’s got more in store for the coal barons and their federal handlers. We’ve heard that the EPA may announce another permit next week. So, stay tuned.

To our DC-area allies, we hope you’ll join us in the streets at the January 29, noontime DC Rising Tide-DC Students for a Democratic Society joint “Funk the Warming” street party against the fossil hawks.

More on this shameful week:

• “The pro-nuclear Department of Energy is set to offer this month the first of nearly $20 billion in loan guarantees to a nuclear industry that hasn’t built a plant since the 1970s or raised any money to do so in years.” @ Truthout.org
• EPA Approves West Virginia MTR Permit: major step backwards for Agency by Kate Rooth @ RAN
• Citizens Shame Environmental Protection Agency for Approving West Virginia Mine Permit (pres release) @ DCRT