Earth Equity News

Making a Mountain into A Coal Hill. Posted by Glenn Hurowitz, Grist, June 24, 2008. "I'm in Appalachia, Va. to attend a hearing by the Virginia Air Resources Board about whether or not Virginia will permit Dominion Power to build a dirty, coal-fired power plant. It's Eden in the mountains here... My wife and I went on a hike through old growth hemlock groves... with naturalist and activist Anna Hess of the Clinch Coalition and learned that this region is the most bio-diverse in the mainland U.S.... But, all around, those natural wonders are being devoured by the coal industry... to get at small seams of coal... They're trying to stack the cards... by forbidding any testimony from people who haven't already commented and by prohibiting people who have already testified from saying anything new... But there are lots of people at the United Mine Workers Hall for our pre-testimony dinner (apparently, the mountaintop removal mines aren't unionized). The UMW is letting Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards use their facilities... We've got local people and dedicated outsiders (best line of the weekend: 'No, I'm not from here, but I got here as soon as I could.') and it seems like we have a shot at success."