Declaring Our Independence… in order to survive.

Independence \In`de*pend”ence\, n. [Cf. F. ind['e]pendance.]

1. The state or quality of being independent; freedom from dependence; exemption from reliance on, or control by, others; self-subsistence or maintenance; direction of one’s own affairs without interference.

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With the 4th of July right around the corner I have been thinking about independence and what it means to me. For myself at least, it is very easy to draw a line from the battle against mountaintop removal to a battle for independence.

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We have relied and depended on King Coal for far too long. I say it is time to declare our independence from King Coal.

Contrary to popular belief,

• we don’t need our mountains blasted apart in order to survive.
• we don’t need valley fills in order to survive.
• we don’t need our streams and rivers polluted in order to survive.
• we don’t need to jeopardize the health and future of our children in order to survive.
• we don’t need neighbor against neighbor, brother against brother in order to survive.
• we don’t need hate and segregation in order to survive.
• we don’t need to sacrifice our health in order to survive.
• we don’t need coal slurry impoundments or injections in order to survive.
• we don’t need to sacrifice our culture and heritage in order to survive.
• we don’t need to have coal keeping the lights on in order to survive.
• we don’t need our homes and hollows washed away in order to survive.
• we don’t need treated as if we don’t exist in order to survive.
• we don’t need dirty politicians and corrupt courts in order to survive.

What we do need, in order to survive, is to declare our independence from King Coal. With his rule, comes all that we don’t need.