The event Appalachia Rising took place outside the White House on Monday. The event was a protest against Mountaintop Removal. About 100 environmentalists were arrested as they traded their freedom to shed light on the environmental devastation taking place throughout Appalachia. Protesters were arrested after they refused orders from Law Enforcement to leave the sidewalk on Pennsylvania Avenue. A few were charged with crossing a police line.
Most of the protesters arrested were released a few hours later. Among the arrested was climate scientist James Hansen
The protest began at Freedom Plaza, but quickly moved on to the White House. Protesters carried signs that said: "Blowing Up Mountains for Coal Poisons People", "Mountain ecosystems won't grow back" and “Coal is killing Appalachia.”
The event was held just a few days after miners protested on the same spot in a pro- coal rally.
Comments
I live in Baltimore but have strong roots in WV. Maybe I wouldn't realize what an incredibly breathtakingly beautiful national treasure Appalachia is/was/hopefully-will-continue-to-be were it not for these roots.
Maybe I wouldn’t be aware of the labor history that helped to change the world, the lives lost in the courageous resistance to Coal Company greed & de facto indentured servitude, the ongoing fights for miners & their families & communities, the mindless greed 7&corruption that have ruined so much of the ancient legacy of the land & destroyed or threatened the & safety of the air & water.
But the fact that powerful people who claim to be environmental advocates, advocates for the poor, advocates for clean air & water-- along with every major news org (Fox, CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, Lou Dobbs) as well as government groups & individuals-- the EPA, the White House, Obama, Al Gore-- the fact that ALL of these entities have been & remain silent or near-silent regarding the extant large-scale devastation & impending full-scale destruction of these mountains & these people‘s lives-- is BEYOND shameful. It is due to either out-&-out corruption & greed, or to plain political cynicism (i.e. rural poor issues don't matter).
In any case it is inexcusable & completely inconsistent with fair reporting, with representative democracy, with the duty of the press, and with the stated agenda of both parties.
have been fighting mtr for years and never found it necessary to get arrested. The arrests overshadowed the event. in the end it was a waste of time when it was a chance to get our point across with dignity...instead many find it necessary to break the law...sad
What you have been doing cannot be called fighting. Massy and their ilk control the local police, sheriffs, city councils, governors, the media, and O bummer.
People need to FIGHT, in order to get heard. And yes it is sad, we should be able to stop MTR by asking nicely. We need to get up in their face, hard.
I agree getting arrested is not the answer. The event made us look like a bunch of rednecks. A man on stilts...what are we side show freaks. If you want to be taken seriously than act like you got some sense.
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