Hey everybody,

I am writing on behalf of the West Virginia Wesleyan Green Club and the Student Environmental Action Coalition. This summer is a historical one for those concerned about climate change, because there is a bill going through congress that could effectively end mountaintop removal as we know it. If you are not familliar with mountaintop removal, you can go to the website www.ilovemountains.org.

Two bills that are being looked at in the house right now is an ammendment to the Appalachian Restoration Act in section 696 defining Valley Fills. This legislation, it passed would effectively make Mountaintop Romoval Coal Mining illegal. According to the proposed legislation, fill material would be defined as "any pollutant that:
(i) replaces a portion of the waters of the United States with dry land; or
(ii) modifies the bottom elevation of a body of water for any purpose."

The Clean Water Protection Act will also overturn regulations allowing for dumping wastes provided by mountaintop removal.

The passage of bills to end mountaintop removal is critical for the safety of not only Appalachain Residents but also the world as a whole. You can help the passage of these acts in multiple ways. Call your congressman and tell them you support the passage of the Appalachian Restoration Act, and that Mountaintop Removal needs to stop today. You can find out who your congressman is by going here: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/officials/.

In addition, there will be multiple ways you can take action directly in support for the Appalachian Restoration Act.

The First opportunity that you have is if you are a resident who lives in the coalfields of west virginia, we invite you to come down to Washington DC and lobby Congress for the passage of the Appalachian Restoration Act and the Clean Water Portection Act any day of the week July 27-31. The Student Environmental Action Coalition is working with Appalachian Voices to give the opportunity for anyone who has grown up in Appalachia to talk about how mountaintop has affected your way of life and to ask congress for support of these two bills. If anyone has question, you can email myself as valjean789@yahoo.com or call me at (301) 915-4846 or you can email Bethany Hill at Bethany@appvoices.org. Carpools will be made available throughout the week from West Virginia and Kentucky. If you sign up before July 17, scholarship money will be made available. You can sign up here: http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=cnN4cVVJaE9BS0ZiQz..... .

During the same week, July 26-August 1, SEAC will also be holding a Grassroots Training Camp entitled "Headwaters Summer Training Camp" for those who want to increase your skills and become a more effective organizer on campus. The training camp will take place at the Epworth Retreat Center in High Falls, NY. If you are interested in attending both the lobby week and the Grassroots training camp, carpools will be made available to bring you back and forth between Washington DC and High Falls, NY. For more information on Headwaters Summer Training Camp, you can learn about it here http://www.seac.org/headwaters

On the evening between Sunday, August 2 and Monday August 3, Appalachian Voices will be sponsoring a candle light vigil in front of the White House in memory of the 500 mountains that have been destroyed through Mountaintop Removal. We will be staying up all night in front of the White House. There will be guest speakers, and the people who attend the vigil will be able to talk about their own experiences with Mountaintop Removal. There will be more details to come with the candlelight Vigil.

Finally, there will be a protest march on Tuesday, August 14 from the main headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency to the U.S. Capital. We are looking for this protest to be huge, and it is being put together by Calvin Smith of West Virginia University. If you have any questions, you can contact myself or Calvin at the_annoyance2002@yahoo.com.

Overall, this is a historical summer, and these opportunities will allow you to really grow as a person. Please spread word about these events because the more people we have, the closer congress will find support for us. I highly encourage you to attend one if not more of these opportunities. Feel free to contact me at (301) 915-4846 or email me at valjean789@yahoo.com. I look forward to hearing from some of you.

Thank you so much,

Billy Astrove
WVWC '10