Tuesday, November 10, 2009

A SPECIAL INVITATION TO JOIN IN A FAITH DAY OF ACTION AGAINST MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL COAL MINING

"Rise, plead your case before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice.

- Micah 6:1

The Living Earth reflections for June and August focused on the practice of mountaintop removal coal mining in the Appalachian Mountains. If you'd like to reread those reflections, you can find them here.

The purpose of the Living Earth series is to provide both reflection and action. Although we would normally reserve more traditional action alerts for our e-Advocacy list, today there is a critical opportunity to join with other faith voices against this destructive method of mining.

Blasting recently began on Coal River Mountain in West Virginia, and the West Virginia DEP has confirmed that coal is being moved off the mountain. This was devastating news to advocates in nearby communities who have rallied around an alternate plan to build a wind farm on Coal River Mountain, the highest peak ever slated for mountaintop removal mining in West Virginia and one of the last intact peaks in the Coal River Valley. The proposed wind farm has the potential to provide electricity for over 70,000 homes, as well as to create good, permanent jobs for the community. When fully operational, the mountaintop removal mine will strip-mine over 6,000 acres of Coal River Mountain -- close to 10 square miles that will be forever changed and no longer useable for wind power.

God entrusted stewardship of the land and water to our care (Genesis 2:15). As part of our call to be stewards of creation, we have a duty to use the land responsibly, to manage it so that it serves the good of all, and to protect it for future generations and for all life. Click here to send a message to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) asking them to intervene and end the Coal River Mountain mining project.

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Sample email to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson:

Dear Administrator Jackson,

As a person of faith, I believe that we are called to be stewards of the Earth and to manage our land, water and other resources for the benefit of all of his creation and for future generations. I am greatly troubled by the destructive practice of mountaintop removal coal mining in the Appalachian mountains -- this practice favors short term economic gain over the protection of these ancient mountains and the unique culture and communities that depend upon them.

Recently, mining operations have begun on Coal River Mountain in West Virginia. This mountaintop removal mine has been opposed by many in the surrounding communities, who favor building a wind farm on the mountain as a way to protect it for current and future generations, provide energy for more than 70,000 homes, and create good, permanent jobs for residents of the surrounding area. This project would epitomize the clean energy future that President Obama has spoken of so often; the mountaintop removal mine that will prevent it from becoming a reality is a symbol of the dirty energy status quo.

I thank you for all that you have done so far in your term as administrator to slow the growth of mountaintop removal mines, and urge you to intervene in any way possible to prevent the mountaintop mine on Coal River Mountain from further damaging the mountain. I also urge you to lend your support to local community members fighting to establish a wind project on the mountain as a sustainable alternative to the mountaintop mine.

We are called by God to till and tend God's garden; mountaintop removal mining flies in the face of God's call to stewardship. I urge you to continue to do all that you can to ensure a cleaner, and less destructive, energy future for our nation.