Jun.25.2009
Daryl Hannah Arrested - protesting Mountaintop removal mining
Daryl Hannah, NASA scientist James Hansen and former W.Va. Congressman Ken Hechler were among 31 people arrested at a non-violent protest of mountaintop removal coal mining near Massey Energy’s Goals Coal processing plant on June 23, 2009.
Whats this about? - more than fighting the claim of clean coal, its called MTR mining, Moutain Top Removal Mining. It is happening in Virginia. And there is more … A 2.8 billion gallon toxic coal sludge impoundment behind the earthen Shumate Dam hovers just a couple of football fields above the Marsh Fork Elementary School, while massive mountaintop removal blasts boom daily within a few feet, and where hundreds of concerned parents, families and citizens from around the country have gathered to call to an end to mountaintop removal–for the sake of the children, the coalfield communities, and the Appalachian mountains.
In this Video, NASA climatologist James Hansen reads ( attempts to read ) a Statement of this protest, he has only begun to speak when POLICE escort Daryl Hannah away for arrest.
If anything about this is true, its that Daryl can get cameras to show up and expose the existence of a cause. CTN has loads of Daryl Interviews that Neal Gray and the Camera crew have gotten with her, and every statement she makes is cogent and sincere. In this situation she sides with the planet and the local population and children around this and other coal production mining operations.
Massey is poisoning families just down the road from marsh fork. They’re poisoning children in the playground for profit and they know it…
Massey is known already to fund efforts to debunk out loud all claims that their coal business is a problem… which is a bit of a shame since none of their actions are defensible.
“I am not a politician; I am a scientist and a citizen,” said Dr. James Hansen. “Politicians may have to advocate for halfway measures if they choose. But it is our responsibility to make sure our representatives feel the full force of citizens who speak for what is right, not what is politically expedient. Mountaintop removal, providing only a small fraction of our energy, should be abolished.”
“Stopping coal emissions is 80 percent of the solution to climate change, and halting mountaintop removal is the essential, rational first step,” Hansen wrote. “Any politician who claims to support our children and the environment, but also supports mountaintop removal, is either a fool, a liar, or both.”
MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL
Other protests are ongoing:
From http://mountainaction.org/wordpress/
ED NOTE/ commentary:
In suppression of peaceful dissent, powerful organizations use the POLICE as footsoldiers.
That, is unacceptable.
I have a big problem with some of this here and what is happening in IRAN… Dissent and Protest leading to arrest. This is not the way things should be. Rational dissent should be enough for any culture. When that is insufficient and actions include POLICE intervention, then the entire system is being “gamed” by both sides. I’m sure we are grateful for the nonviolent nature of the Marsh Fork events, but i am appalled that the Coal Coalition and irrational local Politics have cause this reaction to even have to take place.
Filed in Greeniest |
