I was reading a few articles today and a couple of them I want to share with you and talk about a little. The first quote is from Chelsea Clinton speaking to students in Kentucky. Clinton: Mom is ‘most prepared’

A new Clinton administration would resume full enforcement of the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts and would not favor “arbitrary mountaintop removal,” she said.

I’m a little curious what exactly she meant by arbitrary mountaintop removal. To begin with arbitrary means - Determined by chance, whim, or impulse, and not by necessity. Does it mean the Clinton camp is saying there is mountaintop removal going on right now that is unnecessary? Or does it mean there will not be mountaintop removal unless it is necessary?

I like how all of the candidates like to dance around the topic of mountaintop removal. I think we should create a new reality show and call it Dancing with a Politician. All you have to do is ask a politician their opinion on a controversial issue and away you go. Obviously the one who can dance around the topic the best wins. And what do we have for our lucky winner? - The Presidency of the United States!!!

Something that bothers me a little is the way coal industry officials never bring up mountaintop removal in any part of their environmental monologue. Peabody Chairman and CEO Greg Boyce Highlights Record Results and Outstanding Outlook at Annual Shareholders Meeting

Technological advances are making coal increasingly versatile, allowing the energy in coal to be converted into clean electricity, natural gas and transportation fuels. And coal’s environmental profile continues to improve as the industry works to commercialize near-zero emissions technologies.

“Peabody is a global leader in developing clean coal solutions with carbon capture and storage, advancing clean coal projects and partnerships around the world,” said Boyce. Chief among these is China’s GreenGen project, a multi- phase 650 megawatt integrated gasification combined cycle technology plant that will ultimately use carbon for enhanced oil recovery.”

Sometimes when I say there is no such thing as clean coal I mean it metaphorically. How can you blow up the mountains, destroy forest, destroy streams, destroy a culture, basically destroy everything and then consider the only product you get from the venture clean? It is dirty coal powering this nation.

The public doesn’t have the first notion about clean coal technology or carbon capture and storage except for what the coal industry has told them. The coal industry is blowing up Appalachia and selling clean coal in Washington. I can tell you this - they sure do have to move a lot of debris, overburden, mining waste to get that clean coal.

I seen this commercial where Walker machinery says life is thriving on mountaintop mining sites. It shows a couple of deer and some butterflies on a so called reclaimed mountaintop removal site. Why would deer and butterflies hang around a place that has no vegetation. No hardwoods or flowers, just rock and some imported grass that grows on rocks. I’ve hunted deer near my hometown in Boone Co. for well over 20 years. It took me some time to learn the deers patterns, and how they travel. It use to be a sure thing to take a deer on the first few days of hunting season. I always hunted in the same spot, and have taken some really nice deer over the years. now, it’s almost impossible to get to this special place that meant so much to me. The coal company has eliminated every way to reach this place, I useally ride my ATV to my hunting place. Hunting there were some of the best times of my life. But the last several years things aren’t the same as before. I’m just not seeing no wildlife at all, when I used to see deer, turkey, bear, and different small game species. I’ve scouted the entire area, and there’s not even any sign, the game is no longer around. But what really upsets me is, they say life is thriving on a dead mountaintop, which is an outright lie, but they forget to mention about the life that lives at the bottom of these mountaintops, and everyone knows that life is sure not thriving there either. These are evil people who think enough about the wildlife to mention them, but they want to put a blanket over whats going on to real human lives that are being blasted and poisoned from up above. Ain’t no wonder life is disappearing wheather it be human life or wildlife all through Appalachia.

I have to tell you about a discussion I was wrangled into yesterday concerning mountaintop removal coal mining.

A close relative read my post entitled Clean, Carbon Neutral Coal? the first thing they wanted to know is why I was trying to stop all coal mining. Somehow this is where I get taken wrong. I personally have no problem with deep mining for the twenty-eleventh time. My problem is not taking the coal - it is destroying everything in your path to get it. In my eyes there is no justification for the level of destruction caused by mountaintop removal coal mining - be it jobs or energy.

The person asked me then why do I talk about global warming? That is because coal is a large contributor to global warming or even if you don’t believe in global warming, coal is just a large polluter period. From the cradle to the grave as some say. The reason I talk about global warming is if I can’t get you to see how devastating mountaintop removal is all by it lonesome then I have to also show you where a lot of that coal is going as fuel. Which is two places in this case, fuel for coal-fired power plants and fuel for the global warming debate. Because coal is mainly carbon.

This is where I found myself at a loss for words in the discussion. This person didn’t know whether coal was carbon or not. They are otherwise pretty intelligent so I was a little shocked the discussion had turned to whether or not coal had carbon in it. I guess I have been going under the assumption that one of the most basic fundamentals about coal was a well known fact. Even after reading my post where I actually have very little to say but quote a few sources telling the reader exactly what coal is, they said they weren’t convinced. I didn’t know what to tell them after that. The most proving quote was the one that says “the word carbon comes from the Latin term carbo meaning coal.”

Bituminous coal is the coal mined in the hills of Appalachia and is also the most abundant form of coal. It is 69% to 86% carbon by weight. The BTU value of coal is judged mainly by the carbon content - the higher the carbon content the higher the BTU. The very fact we burn coal to begin with is because of the heat it generates when burning. Or in other words, the BTU output of the coal.

I would hope the discussion with this person was a rare event. If someone does not believe or is not yet convinced that coal is mostly carbon then that same person will also not understand why in talking about mountaintop removal you will inevitably talk about global warming or at the very least CO2 emissions. Coal is the common denominator and mountaintop removal feeds a lot of coal-fired power plants which in turn produce large amounts of CO2 gasses - the primary greenhouse gas.

One of the last statements I always seem to get in these discussions - you’ll never stop it. My answer to that - I never for a second thought I would. I think for the most part mountaintop removal is like a runaway train, if the brakes were slammed on right now it would take it five years to stop. I firmly believe people just need to look at mountaintop removal coal mining and see for themselves what is wrong about it. I still have a little faith in overall humanity and with enough people looking maybe I can get one or two to look a little closer.

I sincerely hope in discussing mountaintop removal I don’t have to convince you that coal is mostly carbon. If I do, this is indeed going to be a long row to hoe.

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This is just an FYI and totally unrelated to this post. This blog’s layout will be changing to include two sidebars. We have some pretty cool ventures coming up and adding the second sidebar allows for more information to be displayed permanently.

Clean Coal is just another PR tool of the Coal Industry. Please watch!!!

I want to talk about my battle against MTR just a little. You can look around any of my blogs and one of the first things that may or may not be obvious is the fact that you will find no ads. I’m not in this to make money. I’m not in this battle to make a name for myself. I firmly believe with all of my being that when people really start looking at mountaintop removal coal mining it will become quite apparent why people like me are so upset over this practice.

There has been coal mining in the state of West Virginia for 150 years or more. Why is it all of the sudden the only way to get it is by mountaintop removal coal mining? I get the argument all the time about the economic prosperity of the state due to coal. I don’t dispute that in any way, shape, or fashion. If you can call it economic prosperity. That would depend on whether or not you live inside the coalfields or outside.

If we have to get the coal by mountaintop removal to feed a nation hungry for electricity then that sign alone is enough to say - maybe we should start looking seriously at alternatives. I have a tough time understanding how we can be doing so much damage to the planet and to the mountains and still be talking clean coal technology this or coal to liquids that. We can bury carbon here or put it under the ocean there - in 25 years if we are lucky. It seems to me as if the conversation would get a whole lot simpler if we started talking about renewable energy. But instead we will just continue to blow up the mountains and contribute to global warming and when we think we have drained all the money from the taxpayers they are willing to dish out then we may try carbon capture and sequestration and hope it works. I wouldn’t want to be around in 25 years to see your energy bill.

I may be fighting MTR but I’m fighting just as hard for renewable energy. Because if it weren’t strictly for the energy aspect, the coal industry would never get away with the destruction they are heaping on us. The reason I can say that so confidently is because the only other reason mountaintop removal coal mining is an accepted practice is because people in the right places benefit heavily from the carbon coated dollar. Those dirty hands would stick out like a coal miners eyes in a bathhouse were it not for the energy aspect.

I hear a lot of debate over global warming. Most of the debate comes from people that say the planet isn’t heating up. I’m not going to tackle that argument either way but even with my standpoint I believe that continuing to pump all of these pollutants into our air and water will eventually lead to something catastrophic. Regardless of what you do believe there is no way you can believe that all these pollutants are a good thing. Forget about global warming. Think about the planet we are preparing for our children and their children and their children…

I think about the children that will not get to experience pulling that huge catfish out of Big Coal River. I think about the kids that would rather be hunting or hiking or playing softball and not doing drugs. I think about the parents losing their property with no way out for them and at the same time, watching their kids do drugs. I think about everybody’s grandparents having to watch everything that sustained them through their lives disappear right before their eyes. I think about all of our ancestors buried throughout the mountains and I imagine if they were to raise today the first thing we would hear is a large angry collective saying, “What the hell have you done to our home!?!?” Mostly when I think about our ancestors I think about how at one time, like them, I wanted to be buried in the peace of the mountains. For a lot of them, peace no longer exists in the mountains.

Maybe coal is of economic importance to the state but in my eyes - it’s simply not worth it.

This story is actually a week or so old, until today I couldn’t decide what I wanted to say about it.

Massey Energy CEO, Don Blankenship, recently told Wall Street analysts he intends to open a new mine every 17 days this year. He said the biggest problem would be finding the 300 to 400 miners since the operations are scattered throughout the coalfields. He also said they had all the permits and the equipment necessary for the ambitious expansion.

Being a person dead set against mountaintop removal coal mining - this story sounds all kinds of warning bells. The main one being since Massey is in the business of removing mountains - I see big trouble looming for the tops of a lot of mountains.

There are a couple of signs in Blankenship’s announcement that a lot of the expansion is in the mountaintop removal sector. The statement he made about only needing 300 to 400 miners. If the new operations were deep mines - he would go through that quota after just 2 to 3 new mines. Another sign - I have worked extensively in the coal fields as an electrician and you can believe there is absolutely no way to open a new deep mine every 17 days. It takes usually about 3 months to install all of the supporting equipment for a deep mine. You have to have belt lines and if the mine is not located right at a prep plant then you either have to install overland belt systems from inside the mine to a prep plant or you have to build a silo with a stockpile on-site. On top of that, the type of machinery used in a deep mine lay outside of Walker Machinery’s specialty. I’m quite sure when Blankenship says he has all the equipment needed, he is talking about bulldozers, draglines, and dump trucks.

I believe the expansion is a sign of the future. Not that mountaintop removal will keep going but that King Coal is beginning to realize that coal is on it’s way out. Maybe not because of mountaintop removal but definitely because of coal’s contribution to global warming. It is being talked about around the globe. If you need proof - visit the forum. King Coal may have a few people under his thumb and unable to wiggle around but there is nothing he can do about the global warming debate.

Of course Massey plans an ambitious expansion. They are going to get just as much of the coal as they possibly can while they can. What is the best way for them to do it? Mountaintop removal coal mining.

I have a few questions. Who is going to be left to clean up King Coal’s mad dash through the Appalachia’s? What about all these sludge ponds? Do you think the coal industry will come back to keep an eye on them? Do you think the WVDEP will do it? What about all the reclaimed sites? Do you think West Virginia will build a highway system connecting them to sustainable traffic? If they don’t - what good are these sites in terms of economic value?

If anything is done to clean up the mess - the bill will belong to the taxpayers. Since it is taxpayers that continually vote against our mountains and our heritage, I imagine the damage from MTR will linger for years to come.

The sludge ponds will not be maintained by anybody and will most likely be a source of concern, again - for years to come.

To even consider these reclaimed sites as candidates for future development is just simply ridiculous. Right now with all the money pouring into some pockets from coal, people in this state are fighting for a water system. The state doesn’t want to foot the bill. In ten years when the coal industry has moved out, we will have all these reclaimed sites for future development. There is no way to even consider that as a viable notion unless you were totally committed to a highway renovation project specifically designed to target secluded reclaimed mountains. If we can’t get something as simple as a water system now, with all the money coming in - how do you think we intend to build a highway system once the money has stopped coming in? A highway system will never happen. These sites will sit ready for future development from now on.

I think a better headline for Blankenship’s exciting news would be this -

Massey Energy Intends To Create More Problems - Every 17 Days

This is just an informational post. I wanted to let you know of a couple things going on - on and off the blog.

The first thing I want to do is welcome BJ (see previous post) and now Mountainsaver to the blog. I had set Mountainsaver up with his own blog but felt like his voice needed to be here with the rest of us. He still has his blog but he will be writing here as well. At any rate I would like to welcome them and thank them for lending their voices to this community.

The next thing is an event that is coming up - Mountain Justice Summer Camp.

May 17 - 23
Harlan County, Kentucky

Our 2008 Mountain Justice Summer camp will be at the base of beautiful Pine Mountain, with an old-growth forest and incredible hiking just above the camp - plus live mountain music, great food, films, workshops on coal mining and Appalachian culture, skills training, and plenty of time for fun and relaxing.

Best of all, the camp is extremely low-cost, only $20 plus $10 per night. There are cabins with bunk beds, plus tent spaces, a beautiful lake, awesome mountain views, and some of the best people you will ever meet anywhere (sorry - no dogs this year).

Register now at

http://www.mountainjusticesummer.org

Go to the website to see pictures of the camp and some photos of our camp last year in Tennessee. This is our 4th annual camp, and we think this is going to be the biggest and best camp we have ever had, with well-known speakers like Kentucky author Silas House, Kayford Mountain Keeper Larry Gibson, Teri Blanton of Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Ed Wiley from Rock Creek, West Virginia, plus many local Harlan County residents and coal miners who are concerned about mountaintop removal mining.

Music includes: Nashville’s Jake Leg Stompers, folksingers Micheal and Carrie Kline, Here’s to the Long Haul, Jeremy Dotson, CD Collins, Danny Dollinger from Austin Texas, and much more!

During the week we will have community service projects, including innoculating Hemlock trees at Camp Blanton against Hemlock Wooly Adelgid, plus forest ecology and plant identification hikes, tree climbing, The Maze, Sand Cave, Knobby Rock - this is going to be an awesome week so we hope to see you there!

Please note: Sorry, no dogs at MJS Camp this year. There are plenty of camp dogs around, so you will have canine company even if you have to leave your best friend at home.

Thanks, Denny, for inviting me to your blog! For those that don’t know me - I’m a mom and a filmmaker. I’ve spent most of my life in West Virginia - always close to the Greenbrier River. I grew up surrounded by National Forest. Until a few years ago I could not fathom the notion that some absentee landowner could blow up our mountains and back yards. It was bad enough that the timber and railroad industry raped the tall uncut virgin forest of the Greenbrier Valley a hundred years ago - hogged it off like sin! Now this beast! Mountaintop Removal - what an outrage! I’ve turned into a warrior!

Here’s what’s on my mind today - May 1, 2008

Our friends in Tennessee are taking on the coal industry and this horrendous practice of mountaintop removal mining. LEAF has been working on getting a bill passed so that eastern Tennessee won’t end up looking like southern West Virginia.

News Channel 5 in Nashville called me last week looking for footage of the massive explosions that blow the tops off our WV mountains. I sent them what I had. Here’s the story “NC5 Investigates Strip Mining in Tennessee” … Watch the News Video. One needs to pay close attention to the “propaganda” spewing from the coal industry heads.

The price of coal is at an all-time high. And so are coal profits. Consumers are demanding more and more electricity - and they are starting to pay higher and higher power bills. It is estimated that our electricity bills will increase by 69% over the next few years. Here in “coal rich” West Virginia our rates rose by 5% this year.

It is said that “if you’re not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem.” HELLO out there! Part of the problem is that most people think of electricity in terms of kilowatts and how much they pay for it. The price paid is not just in dollars. The biggest price paid is by ordinary folk living in these “coal rich” areas of America. They pay with contaminated drinking water, polluted air, generations of poor health, declining property values and most of all - depleted quality of life!

If we continue to want more and use more they are going to continue to mine more, charge more and profit more. We have to stop feeding the coal industry coffers! If you aren’t doing the following things, then try to start today! If you’re already doing it - BRAVO!

Turn your lights off when you don’t need them! Pick up a 6-pack of CFL bulbs when you go to the store - commit to replacing as many as you can afford. Unplug appliances that you don’t need! Hang the laundry on the line! Take a quick cooler shower - summer’s here! And turn off the computer monitor every time you walk away - it really makes a difference. Turn on the fan and turn down the AC! My family has done all of this and more. Our life-style hasn’t changed one itty bit. And we’ve reduced our electric bill by OVER 50%! Every penny I keep out their pocket is a penny that stays in mine!

The coal industry heads and the government lackies always say “it’s a matter of economics.” Well I’ve got news! in my house “it’s a matter of economics.” So I’m powering down!

One more thing: park that car! Drive when you must. If you mustn’t then it’s a luxury. Because - if they figure out a way to burn coal in our gas tanks then we’re in even bigger trouble. Remember what grandpa always said: “desperate times call for desperate measures!” And desperation is upon us!

Thanks for reading!

B. J. Gudmundsson

One would probably wonder why it is that I am all of the sudden all upset over mountaintop removal coal mining when it has been going on for twenty years or more. I would wonder that as well.

One reason is that I have spent the largest portion of the last 20 years in Ohio and the coal industry along with the media do a pretty good job of keeping their secret in the coalfields. The other reason is because the coal industry has done a good job of keeping their destruction out of the public eye. You used to not be able to drive down a two lane road and see a mountaintop removal site in this part of West Virginia. They were always just over the ridge and tucked neatly out of sight.

Just in the past year I have noticed places while just driving down the road where they are no longer trying to hide the destruction. It is right out there for you to see. Drews Creek is a prime example. I noticed that site from over two miles away from route 99 on Bolt Mountain. That’s what made me go looking for it in the first place. It is obvious why the coal industry is now so bold. They have the backing and protection of every single government body designed to be there just to stop things like mountaintop removal. If I wanted to rob a bank and the state police said it was ok - I would rob every bank in the state. There is absolutely no difference.

Today while going down route 3 towards Whitesville, I saw another mountain that has been clearcut and prepped for mining. This one looms over Stickney, West Virginia. Stickney is a little coal mining town located at the base of the mountain following the main ridge down to the right. Route 3 curves around the base of the mountain into Montcoal, West Virginia. You can see this doomed mountain from both sides while following route 3.

I came back up the road with someone I didn’t know real well. As soon as we got within sight of the mountain I asked him what he thought about it. His answer, with no hesitation, “they need to stop it.”

After that short and straight to the point statement I asked him why he thought so. He said, “well just look man, can’t you see!” As a matter of fact I could see. He went on to talk about the deer and how they no longer had a place to hide. “They are all leaving… the bear, the deer, everything.” He talked some about how you can’t even go into the woods deer hunting anymore. I could relate to that because most hollows people used to hunt in now are either destroyed or owned by the coal industry.

In a crazy kind of way I am glad the coal industry has gotten more bold because mountaintop removal coal mining is no longer out of sight, out of mind. Now it is in your face and there is no denying it.

After some thinking and some provoking and Blues last post - this blogger has declared outright war on the coal industry. If you bring hostility to this blog, be prepared to meet the same. I was naive in thinking we could talk about this like grownups. This is a war and the time for talking has long since gone. The more we talk, the more we lose.

The coal industry is blowing up our mountains, polluting our water, destroying our houses, burying our streams, burying and disturbing our ancestors, treating residents as expendable, intimidating residents into submission, running residents off their land, putting our children in harms way - taking everything from us and giving nothing back. It is time we take it back. The coal industry is yet to see the hell I can raise and I can tell you this - I’m just getting started.

When I started this blog, it’s basic purpose was as an educational tool. Now it has evolved into a weapon. I can’t speak for the other authors, but this blogger intends to use the full arsenal on the coal industry. That goes for the political arm of the coal industry as well, all the way to the White House. Our *illustrious President has said that mountaintop removal coal mining is an acceptable sacrifice for our national security. It may be to him and to the people that enjoy shoveling that pile of crap, but when you are in the war zone and considered a part of the acceptable sacrifice, your attitude quickly changes. We will not be sacrificed and neither will our land.

To the coal industry - did you honestly think you could keep walking on us without a word or any repercussions? Now who is the naive one? As far as myself being an environmental extremist - you will wish that is all that I am. If you really and truly want to know what I am - think along the lines of your worst nightmare.

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* denotes extreme sarcasm