Sunday, September 14, 2008

There is hope: COAL RIVER WIND

After the doom and gloom I put before you last week, I did want to offer a glimmer of hope. Coal River Valley, WV has had over 50,000 acres of its mountains destroyed by strip mining/mountaintop removal. A group of citizens have created a plan to bring sustainable jobs, and energy to this region, that could be the model for the rest of the country. On the last 6,000 acres left in this area, there is a plan to erect a wind farm. There are investors lined up, and the community is in full support of this.
King Coal...as they call it 'round here....is not very happy about this. Massey Corporation has decided to blow up the last mountains this region has left. And Governor Manchin of West Virginia is happy to let them. Thankfully they are a sloppy company, and did not get all of the required permits, so there has been a temporary halt to their plan. BUT IT IS TEMPORARY! This is a real shot at making a difference, and voicing our opinions. This wind farm could potentially provide energy for 150,000 homes INDEFINATELY! Unlike coal, this is an energy source that can be sustained. Please sign the petition, and make your voice count.

3 comments:

Lisa said...

I signed and I'm glad you liked the blog. I'm so sorry for how we are treating the land around you. I just wish I had known sooner. When I feel better I plan to write my power company asking them to quit using coal from MTR.

Green Bean said...

I'll post more on mountaintop removal next week and include a link to the petition and your blog for more information. Keep spreading the word.

Anonymous said...

Mama Goes Green,

I just stopped by to thank you for posting about www.iLoveMountains.org and the Coal River Wind Project.

You're making a HUGE difference: to date 31,000+ people have signed on to help end mountaintop removal, and 92,000 people have watched the America's Most Endangered Mountains videos series!

In case you havent seen it yet, we just released a new video about Blair Mountain in West Virginia

Oh, and please join the iLoveMountains.org Bloggers Challenge if you havent already.

Again, thanks, and take care!

Benji Burrell
benji@ilovemountains.org

PS I see that you're part of the BlogHer newtork. My friend Britt Bravo is also a writer with BlogHer. Great people for sure!