Daryl Hannah, Dr.James Hansen and Ken Hechler to risk arrest in fight against mountaintop removal

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

This goes down tomorrow, when they engage in civil disobedience and trespass on Massey Energy's grounds. I'll be there, along with my camera.
----

COAL RIVER VALLEY, WV - June 18 - Moments ago, four concerned citizens entered onto Massey Energy’s mountaintop removal mine site near Twilight WV and have begun to scale a150-foot dragline machine to drop a banner that says, ‘stop mountaintop removal mining.’ The climbers plan to stay on the enormous dragline, a massive piece of equipment that removes house-sized chunks of blasted rock and earth to expose coal, until police arrest them. Equipped with satellites phones and a web camera, the climbers will be available for interviews.

This is the first time a dragline has been scaled on a mountaintop removal site, and marks the latest in a string of increasingly dramatic protests in West Virginia by residents and allies from across the country. This act of protest against mountaintop removal comes just days after the Obama Administration announced a plan to reform, but not abolish, the aggressive strip mining practice.

“It’s way past time for civil disobedience to stop mountaintop removal and move quickly toward clean, renewable energy sources,” said Judy Bonds, Goldman Environmental Prize winner and co-director of Coal River Mountain Watch of West Virginia. “For over a century, Appalachian communities have been crushed, flooded, and poisoned as a result of the country’s dangerous and outdated reliance on coal. How could the country care so little about our American mountains, our culture and our lives?”

<...>

Following this protest, on June 23rd leading climate scientist, Dr. James Hansen, actress Daryl Hannah, Michael Brune, the Executive Director of Rainforest Action Network, and former Representative Hechler will join Coal River Valley residents in a second round of protests in West Virginia.

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/06/18

---
For those outside W.Va who don't know the great Ken Hechler, He's our 94-year-old former congressman and secretary of state. From his days working in the Truman White House to marching along with Granny D, he's still going and fighting the good fight.
PBS did a great documentary on him last year, which you can find info on here;
http://www.wvpubcast.org/newsarticle.aspx?id=4644

---
The site is owned by Don Blankenship and Massey Energy.
To get an idea what kind of a thug we're dealin with, here's footage of him asaulting an ABC News reporter, as he was mad they were looking into his efforts to buy the state supreme court:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4Ym8qqR5vU

[malaise]

1. Let's see how M$Greedia cover this

Will there be tweets spreading all over the country?

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

4. Hundreds expected to attend

Now if they could promise 15 'grassroots' folks to rival the letterman protests, then they could get some pre-event publicity from AP and the networks

[cagesoulman]

2. Daryl who?

4'33"

[Karmadillo]

3. K & R

nt