The Harriman, TN, community that was ravaged by the coal ash disaster last December is still recovering from the affects of the toxic waste spill and will be for months and years to come.

The third annual Mountain Justice Spring Break was last week near Harriman and college students and community members met for nine days to train, organize and take action for justice in the mountains and the surrounding areas affected. United Mountain Defense, SEAC, Mountain Justice and others collaborated to make this week a success and a learning experience for all to continue the movement.

Students learned about the lifecycle of coal, which extends beyond mountain top removal, a process which scars the landscape permanently and destroys the forested ecosystems and headwater streams that are vital to wildlife habitat and clean water. Aside from the mining, the burning of coal contributes tons and tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, which is factor leading to climate change and global warming. The by-products of the coal mining process, coal slurry, are injected into the ground, thereby contaminating the ground water, or held back in slurry impoundments by earthen walls. Finally, the resulting coal ash from the coal plants is also held in an unsafe manner, as the recent disaster in Tennessee demonstrated.

Over the weekend, ten thousand or so student and youth activists and change makers met in DC to speak out and discover their collective course of action for the next months and years in how to power our world in a cleaner and more just way. The movement is dynamic, constantly morphing and changing course, but the common threads are justice and equality for those most affected by climate change, mountain top removal mining, toxic chemical factories, and environmental injustice of all kinds.

On Saturday, I attended a workshop on healthcare with my friend Heather, called Healthier Planet, Healthier People: the Dual Fight for Healthcare and Climate Change Solutions. A doctor from Johns Hopkins laid out some of the dangers facing humanity if we let climate change continue unabated. Most of these factors will occur over time, such as threats to water and food supplies, collapsing ecosystems, rising tides, heat illnesses and infectious diseases. She presented the typical scenarios that we hear and included the fact that about 20% of greenhouse gas emissions are from agricultural processes (which is slightly more than the transportation sector). I did not catch her name, but she is teaching in a new program at Johns Hopkins called the Program on Global Sustainability and Health.

by Kathryn Hilton, student activist in SC

There is a coal war in South Carolina. A fight where a main energy provider, Santee-Cooper, our state regulatory agency, the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), and many legislators are trying to take our rights away! We, the citizens of South Carolina will NOT stand for this injustice. In our efforts to bring a clean energy future to South Carolina we face many hurdles, fighting in South Carolina is a difficult battle. Things that are our God given rights as human beings are taken from us. February 12, 2009 was no exception.

On this day many citizens from across South Carolina assembled in front of DHEC headquarters to rally for clean energy and make our regulatory board take notice of those of us opposed.

After the rally there was an appeal hearing for the Air Quality Permit DHEC granted to Santee-Cooper. Many organizations and individuals filed appeals. Our request was heard and we were given a chance to present our case.

I was there on this day. I listened to both sides. I heard the negative impacts on the environment and our health this new coal-fired power plant would bring. I heard DHEC defending their decision and Santee-Cooper downplaying the negative effects. I had hoped the department in charge of protecting our health and environment would admit their mistake in granting an Air Quality permit to Santee-Cooper, not defend their error. I was wrong. Their decision was made before any of us walked into the board room that morning. Santee-Cooper still has their Air Quality permit, concerned groups will appeal this decision in court.

This is not right! My health and my future are important to me! This is my call to action! We may have lost a battle, but we will not lose the war.

I ask you all to join me in protest of this coal-fired power plant in South Carolina and for coal power everywhere.

(The work I do with SEAC is on a national scale, helping to coordinate our National Council and organizing students to translate their environmental concerns into action! On a local scale, I'm invested in the fight to bring a moratorium on any new coal fired power plants, specifically in the Southeast. Here in Virginia, Dominion Resources (and now Old Dominion Electric Cooperative) have plants in the construction and permitting stages, respectively. To keep the pressure on Dominion, with their plans to finish building their 585 MW coal plant in St. Paul, VA, Blue Ridge Earth First! (an ally of SEAC) held a demonstration in Richmond, VA, at the Dominion Resources headquarters this past Saturday. Read below for the press release....)

At noon on Saturday, February 7, approximately fifteen individuals identifying themselves as ‘Billionaires for Coal’ assembled in front of Dominion Power’s downtown offices to ostensibly voice their praise for the company’s many coal-fired power plants. Dressed in formal attire and sipping lemonade from Martini glasses, the group chanted pro-coal, anti-environment slogans and held signs expressing similar sentiments. In addition to rousing recitations such as, “Up with sea levels, up with profits,” the mid-day merriment included a live bluegrass performance by ‘The We Love Money String Band’ who frequently reassured their audience that they’re “only in it for the money.”

Addressing recent displays of opposition to Dominion’s proposed Wise County coal plant as well as the escalating presence of anti-coal activism on an international scale, Stan Sneezley, an alleged billionaire from Harrisonburg said. “I feel offended and assaulted by all of these people talking about asthma and climate change and their children’s future. These people obviously don’t care about me and my money at all! I say if a few million kids have to wheeze a little for me to breath easy, then so be it! I’m rich!”

SEACers, students, youths, organizers, educators, lend me your ears!

This March (7-15th to be exact!) Mountain Justice Spring Break will be in Eastern Tennessee. Collaborating with United Mountain Defense, Save Our Cumberland Mountains, the Student Environmental Action Coalition, Southern Energy Network, and the Sierra Student Coalition, Mountain Justice will continue their fight to end mountain top removal mining and take action to stop the dirty death cycle of coal in America.

Nearly two weeks ago, a toxic spill by the Tennessee Valley Authority of fly ash sludge, poured one billion gallons of heavy metals and other nastiness into the waterways below their coal fired power plant, destroying 15 homes in its path. This year Mountain Justice Spring Break activists will work directly with the communities in Tennessee in any way we can to support and build back what TVA has taken from them. The land will take years to recover from this spill, but for one week in March, we will do all we can to get organized and reach out to the affected communities, building relationships and furthering the movement for a clean, just energy revolution!

Last years Mountain Justice Spring Breaks were a huge success! Over 200 people from 17 states participated in 7 direct actions in 4 states along with 100+ workshops, 6 service projects, 4 concerts, 5 climb trainings, 2 listening projects, 1 lobbying event, 1 canvassing project, and 1 square dance all packed into 18 days in March 2008 that earned more than
60 media hits! All of this excitement was planned by a mostly volunteer collective of ~15 youth from 6 different states during more than 50 hours of conference calls.

The Student Environmental Action Coalition along with Greenpeace Canada, Climate Action Network Canada and many other climate justice groups endorsed a letter of support to pressure Environmental Ministers Rob Renner and Jim Prentice to stop the voracious practice and expansion of tar sands oil extraction.

Canada is up for the "Colossal Fossil" award this week in Poznan, Poland at the international climate talks due to their extraction of oil from the tar sands. The Canadian youth delegation got their message across today after they held a photo exhibit in the main hall of the conference showing footage of the practice. Below is their media advisory and a link to the full letter sent to the Ministers.

International Climate Advocates Slam Canadian Tar Sands Promotion

Poznan, Poland – Over 60 organizations participating in the United Nations climate change talks in Poznan and other groups around the world today called on Canada's Environment Minister Jim Prentice and Alberta's Environment Minister Rob Renner to stop promoting the Canadian tar sands – one of the world's dirtiest sources of oil. Prentice and Renner are in Poznan to participate in the climate talks.

In a letter to the ministers, leading non-governmental environmental organizations in Canada, the United States, Europe, and the developing world, stated "As ministers charged with protecting the environment, it is your responsibility to put the brakes on tar sands expansion."

Tar sands oil production generates three to five times as much greenhouse gas as conventional oil due to the massive amounts of energy needed to extract, upgrade and refine the oil. A halt of the tar sands is vital in order to make progress on climate change both globally and in Canada.

The full text of the letter to Minister Prentice and Minister Renner can be found at:

http://www.cydpoznan.org/files/International%20Tar%20Sands%20Statement.p...

From November 21-23, 2008, around 75 people gathered in the Coal River Valley in West Virginia for the Mountain Justice Fall Summit. For years, organizers and activists, young and old have come to Rock Creek to work in solidarity with the citizens of the Valley, who are opposed to the destruction of their mountain tops and the poisoning of their water. For many students and young folks, this is their first introduction to the practice, known as mountain top removal mining, which has wreaked havoc on the Appalachian Mountains. The blasting and subsequent processing of coal leaves a toxic mess behind, with no sign of the corporations responsible to clean it up. Luckily, activists are organizing and learning from one another to affect change in Appalachia and create a healthier and sustainable economy here.

The weekend was filled with good food, educational workshops, and a chance to connect with fellow activists about their respective work. The highlight (or lowlight of the weekend, depending on who you ask) was the hike up Kayford Mountain. Days of snow prior to our arrival left the winding road up to Larry Gibson's homeplace, slick and icy. After a few cars were unable to get up the steep incline, we hoofed it to the top, with Hell's Gate awaiting us. Hell's Gate is the name given to the overlook where a mountain top removal site lay starkly in the valley. The gaping hole is tremendous and grey rubble is all that paints the immediate landscape with remnants of reclaimed hillslopes washing away nearby. On this particular day, a blast from an adjacent mine site shook the land as we gazed across to prestine and intact mountain ridges. The dusty cloud hung in the air for a few minutes, while billowing industrial stacks were visible (from coal plants?) on the horizon. Passing back through the small community there, we walked soberly after witnessing the power of the site we just visited.

Over twenty five social and environmental justice groups from the Southeast met at Highlander Research and Education Center this week to continue exploring ways to support the civil and economic rights movement in the region. After the exciting election season, many groups see the opportunity to work together and lift up common goals and needs of the South. On Tuesday, we spent time talking about the shaky economy and what that could mean for non-profits and other groups working for justice, which usually rely heavily on grant and foundation funding. We shared our enthusiasm about Obama's election and how to reach him and his transition team with our hopes, expectations and demands for justice and prosperity. We noted the importance of remaining vigilant and resolute given the political and economic environment. (My one caveat was that we do not look to Obama to make the changes we know are necessary, but to ourselves and to our communities. He will not make the change; We will make the change.) On Wednesday, we looked more closely at barriers to moving forward including resource competition, bad mouthing, duplicating our work and "silos". The concept of a silo was new to me, but basically describes the lack of communication and sharing of common goals among departments in an organization. More broadly speaking, within the movement for social justice, organizations may not communicate with one another and therefore not be as effective as they might be if means to share information were in place. We continued to address these obstacles over the next day and a half, as we crafted a strategy to infuse new energy into the movement and come up with solid steps for moving ahead.

Protesters From Across the Country Join Wise County VA Residents to Oppose Power Plant’s Impact on Environment and Health, and to Demand a Clean Energy Future

Wise County, VA — At 6:00am this morning around 50 peaceful protesters entered the construction site of Dominion Virginia’s (NYSE: D) Wise County coal-fired power plant. Almost twenty protesters locked their bodies to eight large steel drums, two of which have operational solar panels affixed to the top that illuminated a banner reading “renewable jobs to renew Appalachia.” In addition to those locked to the construction site, over 25 protesters from across the country convened in front of the plant singing and holding a 10’x30’ banner, which said “we demand a clean energy future.”

In this event—the first protest at Dominion’s $1.8 billion new coal-fired power plant—local Wise County residents have joined hands with those fighting mountaintop removal coal and climate change from Tennessee to California. Those young and old, from cities and from rural communities have come together because the construction of this 585-megawatt power plant not only poses a massive risk to the health of Appalachians, but it also stands in stark opposition to the national move to a clean energy economy.

“Coal is in our blood but we’re realizing it’s also in our lungs and in our drinking water,” said Hannah Morgan, Wise County landowner and one of those locked to the construction site. “We are here because now is the time to take greater action as individuals, a community, and a country to create a sustainable future and stop the destruction of our homeplace.”

During Mountain Justice Spring Break in Virginia, I listened to a workshop by the amazing Mary Olsen, from the Nuclear Information & Resource Service, titled Nuclear Resistance. She brought along a map of the Southeast states with existing nuclear reactors and waste sites labeled as well as proposed reactors and weapons facilities. My hometown of Anderson, SC, was smack dab in the middle of the icons, and suddenly something dawned on me. My personal connection to this movement was revealed as I thought of my grandma, great aunt and numerous other family and friends who died from cancer, wondering if the nearby coal plant in Williamston or the upwind Oconee Nuclear Station had anything to do with their deaths. Currently, Duke Energy has a proposal on the table for a new nuclear power facility near Gaffney, SC, called Williams States Lee III. This is in addition to the new boiler at the Cliffside coal fired power plant they are attempting to (illegally) build. With seemingly endless fronts to our fight for a better future, it is important to remain focused. While toppling King Coal, let us keep our eyes on the nuclear industry and apply pressure as capacity allows. Nuclear has been tauted as a "clean and safe" energy solution to the climate crisis. What these claims fail to recognize is the ENTIRE LIFECYCLE of nuclear power. From the mining and enrichment of uranium (which uses gas, diesel and coal power) to the nuclear reactor itself and the resultant waste, nuclear is destructive, polluting and risky. We have heaps of radioactive waste to deal with, and economically, it is a bad investment. Duke Energy lists the reactor price tag near Gaffney at $5 to 6 billion dollars, while an identical reactor proposed by Florida Power and Light is slated to cost between $12 and 17 billion dollars. Friends of the Earth and other Southeast environmental groups are demanding up-to-date and full disclosure from Duke to the public about the true cost of the project.