While Eric Blevins is holding out up in the trees with fellow activists Amber and David to successfully halt blasting at Coal River Mountain, I’d like to share with you some inspiring words which he delivered this past December at a protest at the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection in Charleston.  Eric spoke on behalf of Mountain Justice, and was joined on the stage by the likes of former WV congressman Ken Hechler and Robert Kennedy Jr.  The genuine and profound framing and delivery of Eric’s speech has stuck with me since that day.  And as he sits up there, defending this mountain, I hope his words inspire you, as well.

Mountain Justice is a regional movement, moving to abolish mountaintop removal. And this region unites us. Whether we live in West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, Georgia or Alabama, we are united by these mountains.  Appalachia unites us.

These mountains are divine creations.  They deserve our love and respect.  The people who live in these mountains are divine creations.  They deserve our love and respect.  The plants and animals who live in these mountains are divine creations.  They deserve our love and respect.   The fresh mountain air and fresh mountain spring water are divine creations.  They deserve our love and respect.  We must love the creator and all of the creator’s creation.  If we all give them the love and respect they deserve, then they will heal us every day, for generations and generations into the future.  If we continue to desecrate and destroy them, they will leave us, probably within a generation.

Coal River Mountain is a divine creation.  It deserves our love and respect and it deserves to live.

Massey Coal is a corrupt corporation, [Eric had to pause here for a big applause] with over two thousand documented violations of the Clean Water Act, and the government continues to allow them to poison our divine living water and to blow up our divine mountains like the terrorists they are, and to bury our loved ones in their waste.

They are turning our loved ones into waste. This is criminal activity and it must be stopped. Massey Coal has said that they are going to kill 998 people in the Coal River Valley if their coal waste dam fails, and the government has given them permission to blast within 200 feet of it, and the blasting has begun. Massey dams like this one have failed in the past and there is no reason to think they won’t fail again. The government must step in now to stop this killing, and if they don’t, we will keep getting in Massey’s way until this madness ends, and we will save Coal River Mountain and the Coal River Valley and our deep connection to divine creation.

Thank you.

In less than five weeks, you’ll have a chance to get totally plugged into the growing movement to end mountaintop removal and bring justice to the coal fields. Come to Eastern Tennessee, March 7-15 for Mountain Justice Spring Break, where we will share the skills and knowledge needed to fight back against dirty coal. This will be an amazing opportunity to meet and join the good people who make up Mountain Justice, gain grassroots organizing skills, and learn the dirty truth about coal, with your own eyes. Stand up and take action at the site of the TVA coal ash disaster and stand in solidarity with the impacted communities.

You can visit mjsb.org right now and register for what is bound to be a life-changing experience.

Building upon the success of Mountain Justice Spring Break (MJSB) 2008, this year’s camp will be full of workshops, speakers, community service, direct action, hiking, music, great food, camp fires, fun times and more. Not only will you leave with a refined understanding of mountaintop removal and the dirty coal cycle, you will learn to organize in solidarity with coal-impacted communities to maintain their land and culture and end our dependence on dirty energy.

(Check out this video/slideshow from MJSB 2008! )

MJSB 2009 is will be held at a beautiful camp (with cabins) near the Cumberland Plateau, allowing us to explore and appreciate the land we are working to protect. The camp is only miles away from the recent TVA ash disaster, the single worst environmental catastrophe in U.S. History. We will have the unique opportunity to meet with and act in solidarity with the local people, who’s lives have been turned upside-down by the colossal one billion gallon spill of toxic coal ash. (And TVA Headquarters will only be a few miles away, in Knoxville… )

At spring break, Mountain Justice will also be recruiting volunteers to join the struggles in coal-impacted communities of Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia. Internships for college credit can be set up for a wide range of areas of study. You can come work for Mountain Justice and get college credit for it!

This event is being planned largely by college students and full-time volunteers, so if you’re interested in joining in on the final stages, please email Marty to get involved!

If you have break between March 7th and 15th (or even if you don’t…), please consider coming to Eastern Tennessee and joining in on the fun and educational experience that will be Mountain Justice Spring Break. We’re looking forward to making lots of new friends and pushing the movement that much closer towards critical mass. The time for Mountain Justice is at hand, and you can be part of it!

Please visit mjsb.org for more information, and register by February 18th!

Can’t make it to MJSB 2009?  Then maybe you can come to DC for the 4th Annual End Mountaintop Removal Week in DC, March 14-18th.  Check out this event and many more at powerpastcoal.org

The Arch Coal rep was a guest speaker in a special series of lectures entitled “The Future of Energy.” As if its some sort of cosmic joke, the lecture series is funded by none other than Bank of America, the largest financial sponsor of coal extraction, and a predominant investor in Arch Coal. Not surprisingly, the lecture contained very little discourse on the feasibility of carbon capture, and served mainly as a defense for maintaining the status quo of centralized and dirty energy production (including nuclear!!!).

After a hour-long excretion of predictable arguments for keeping us addicted to dirty coal, the evening was ended with an enlightening Q&A session. Every single person in line at the mic made a critical comment as part of their question, the first being delivered by a young woman from the coal-fields of Kentucky, who brought attention to the conveniently overlooked issue of coal extraction in Appalachia.

You could almost see the CEO shrink in his cocoon of avoidance and denial, his voice dropping to near inaudible as he delivered each sidestepping non-answer. After getting nailed one question after another, a member of Rising Tide Boston got to ask the last “question,” which ended, “…what gives us the right to gamble the future of civilization on a magic technology that doesn’t exist?”. Oh snap.

As he tried to control the damage, and fashion some sort of response, two other members of RTB walked to the front of the lecture hall and unfurled a banner which read, “The coal bubble is bursting – Clean Coal is a Dirty Lie,” before proclaiming a list of statements on Arch Coal’s investments in “every dirty energy practice in the country.” (Note that the banner included both the Arch Coal logo, as well as Bank of America’s.)

That was the end of the evening’s failed attempt at disinformation. Don’t quit your day job, Steve. No wait, quit your day job.

The whole debacle served as yet another blow to King Coal, a one-two punch after the morning’s inspiring action at Coal River Mountain. And with the capital action and others across the country on the horizon, things are only heating up for Steve and friends. Rising Tide Boston isn’t letting up on Bank of America either, and will continue to stick it to them come Valentine’s day.

The press release, from the laptop of Rising Tide Boston:

Rising Tide Boston crashes talk by Arch Coal CEO

February 3, 2009

Boston, MA – Seven activists from Rising Tide Boston disrupted a lecture at Harvard University being delivered by Arch Coal CEO Steve Leer, who was speaking on the future of “clean coal” technology. The activists attempted to enlighten the coal baron and the lecture attendees on the true cost of coal extraction.

“Arch coal is participating in the destructive practice of mountaintop removal,” says Tyler Kinser, a member of Rising Tide Boston. “How can coal ever be clean when entire communities are being poisoned and displaced by coal extraction?”

“This Harvard lecture series is funded by Bank of America, the single largest financial sponsor of mountaintop removal,” said Kinser, “so it’s no surprise that Harvard is hosting this lecture of disinformation on coal. We decided to balance out the lies.” Bank of America has invested billions of dollars in Arch Coal, according to the website dirtymoney.org.

The guest lecture was received with criticism by the some of those in the packed lecture hall.  In the end, every question asked sounded more like a critical comment.  Activists from Rising Tide Boston ended up delivering the final word on the matter, with the question “What gives you the right to gamble the future of civilization on a magic technology that doesn’t exist?”  As the Arch Coal CEO attempted to avoid the question, two members of Rising Tide walked on stage and unfurled a banner which read “The coal bubble is bursting – Clean Coal is a Dirty Lie,” before interrupting Leer’s mumbling and shouting a list of statements regarding Arch Coal’s “investments in every dirty energy practice in the country.”  Activists also distributed literature to attendees as they entered the lecture hall.

Today’s action comes on the heels of an act of civil disobedience carried out this morning at Coal River Mountain, West Virginia, where five activists were arrested after locking down to a bulldozer and backhoe, and more were arrested later that day for delivering a letter to CEO of Massey Energy.  Coal River Mountain is slated for a 6,600-acre mountaintop removal site, but local residents have developed plans for a wind farm there instead.

Although the activists made the final argument, words spoken by Leer, of Arch Coal, seem to stand out.  ”Absolute power corrupts, but we need electricity.”

For updates, photos and video footage, visit http://risingtideboston.org

Although BofA recently hatched an “ill timed PR ploy” swearing off MTR, they continue to fund coal extraction, as well as widespread oppression, from Black Mesa at Four Corners to the coal fields in Eastern Tennessee, to the urban communities in Mattapan… unless…

This Valentine’s Day, we do something about it.

Hot of the desk of Rising Tide Boston, in solidarity with City Life/Vide Urbana

*NATIONAL CALL TO ACTION*

BREAK UP WITH BANK OF AMERICA ON VALENTINES DAY
FEB 14th, 2009: MASS DAY OF ACCOUNT CLOSURES
STOP ALL EVICTIONS AND FORECLOSURES!
STOP FINANCING COAL AND CLIMATE CHANGE!

Contact: valentinesday@risingtideboston.org
This Valentine’s Day, February 14th, 2009, join Rising Tide Boston (RTB) in demanding that Bank of America stop its funding of the dirty and deadly coal industry and demanding, in solidarity with City Life/Vide Urbana, stop its unjust foreclosures and evictions of working families. Closing your account with Bank of America (BOA) is an important step in bringing closure to this unhealthy relationship. In Boston, we are planning a day of coordinated bank account closures in at least two locations, and encourage people in other places to organize something similar.

It is completely within Bank of America’s power to stop evicting people from their homes, and such a step wouldn’t be unprecedented. Mortgage giant Fannie Mae recently announced a moratorium on evictions of tenants in foreclosed houses after facing pressure from housing justice activists. Now is [the] time to let BOA know in no uncertain terms that we won’t allow them to push any of us or our neighbors out of our homes, and that we’re certainly not going to trust them with our money.

Soledad Lawrence, a community organizer with City Life / Vida Urbana says that the racist foreclosure crisis is “like Katrina without the water.” We will not allow Bank of America’s predatory lending practices to displace poor people and people of color in our city or anywhere. The same working-class communities that are most oppressed by the economic system these greedy banks support are now facing the worst effects of the environmental devastation that it causes. While communities in Boston continue to struggle in the face of the ongoing disaster of foreclosures and evictions, communities in Appalachia are fighting back against the disaster of the coal industry, which is poisoning their water and displacing them from their homes. Climate change is a social justice issue, and we must build alliances now to confront the corporations who put profit before people and the planet.

Recently, Bank of America attempted to salvage its relationship with the movements working to end mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR) by releasing a statement on Coal Policy, in which the bank failed to commit to a timeline or any concrete action to halt their financing of MTR. In this “policy”, BOA touts “advanced technologies such as carbon capture and storage” as solutions to climate change. BOA does not seem to understand that we need is a livable planet that hasn’t been turned into an overheated toxic wasteland, not token gestures or promises to support false solutions. The recent devastating coal-ash spill in Tennessee is a reminder that we already have enough ongoing and imminent disasters from the coal industry- we don’t need any more. BOA’s first step should be the immediate cancellation of loans to destructive corporations such as Peabody Energy, Massey Energy, Arch Coal, Dominion, and all others involved with mountaintop removal and trashing the climate.

We encourage everyone who does business with Bank of America to take time this Valentine’s Day to tell them “it’s over between us.” In Boston, we’re encouraging people to pledge ahead of time, so we can know how many people to expect and let them know which branch we will be at. Even if you don’t have a bank account at Bank of America, you can still participate at a support rally. We are calling on social and environmental justice groups around the country to work together organize account closings in their communities on this day. Without our money, greedy banks cannot continue to destroy the planet and exploit marginalized communities.

For help organizing a day of mass account closings in your town, or to make a pledge to close your account in the Boston area, write to: ValentinesDay@RisingTideBoston.org.

Stay tuned to www.RisingTideBoston.org for some suggestions or logistical support.

For information about City Life/Vida Urbana, check out www.clvu.org.

A message, from the core of Rising Tide Boston:

Rising Tide Boston not fooled by Bank of America’s “Coal Policy”; plans to break up with them this Valentine’s Day

Contact: info@risingtideboston.org

Rising Tide Boston wishes to announce that the group will continue its part in the widespread campaign to pressure Bank of America to drop its involvement with the coal industry, despite the bank’s recent release of a new “Coal Policy”. We view this so-called policy as a PR gimmick intended to distract the public from Bank of America’s ongoing funding of the coal industry. Bank of America’s Coal Policy fails to commit to a timeline or any concrete action to halt their financing of mountain top removal coal mining, and the alternatives the bank pledges to support are not solutions at all.

Bank of America claims that they will “phase out financing of companies whose predominant method of extracting coal is through mountain top removal.” Without having any sort of schedule, there is no way to know that Bank of America actually intends to follow through on their stated plan. If the bank’s intention is a “phase out” over a number of years, what does that mean for places being bombed or covered in toxic sludge every day? If and when Bank of America does drop companies like Massey Energy, we hope they would extend this action to all companies wreaking havoc on ecosystems and coalfield communities through strip mining.

Bank of America says that they will promote technologies that “capture carbon from fossil fuel plants and then sequester that carbon in geologic reservoirs,” which is also problematic. At a period in history when climate-related disasters have become a reality for communities around the globe, there is no longer any time for putting our hopes in pie-in-the-sky solutions like carbon capture and storage. CCS technology will not be available to implement on a large scale for years, and with unnatural disasters increasing in frequency and intensity, we need to drastically cut our consumption – not wait for technological quick fixes.

Somebody should let Bank of America know that a completely free and reliable form of carbon capture and storage already exists! It’s produced by two powerful forces: biological (capturing carbon in the form of living organisms) and geological (transforming carbon into a very stable form underground and inside of mountains). It’s called coal. If Bank of America wants to demonstrate their commitment to carbon storage, we recommend that they promote the practice of leaving fossil fuels inside the Earth where they belong.

Rising Tide Boston also wishes to remind Bank of America that our concerns are not limited to “the environment” and that throwing us a bone like the “Coal Policy” won’t distract us from the bank’s practice of evicting our neighbors who have been hit hard by predatory lending and the mortgage crisis. Perhaps when we’ve heard conclusively from coalfield residents that strip-mining has stopped, when people stop being evicted from their homes across the U.S., and when Bank of America stops making a profit off industries that create climate chaos, we’ll “phase out” our campaign against them. In the meantime, we’ll be promoting February 14, 2009 (Valentine’s Day) as a major day of Bank of America account closures. Along with organizations resisting the current wave of evictions, Rising Tide Boston invites anyone who cares about a habitable planet and a livable community to join us in dumping Bank of America this Valentine’s Day. For more information about Rising Tide Boston, please visit: www.risingtideboston.org. Stay tuned for updates about February 14^th.