For the fifth year in a row, hundreds of Kentuckians gathered at the Capitol in Frankfort for I Love Mountains Day, a large rally and lobbying day organized by Kentuckians For The Commonwealth (KFTC). About 850 people from all across the state, and even a few friends from neighboring states, marched and rallied on Feb. 11 on the steps of the Capitol in support of the Stream Saver Bill, a bill that would make it illegal for companies to dump mining wastes into streams and valleys, making it much more difficult and costly for Mountaintop Removal (MTR) mining to take place. Two versions of the bill have been filed: House Bill 416 filed by Rep. Mary Lou Marzian and Senate Bill 139 filed by Sen. Kathy Stein.

Chanting, drumming, marching, singing, people crowded the Capitol steps and rallied while several speakers addressed the crowd, including country singer Kathy Mattea, author Jason Howard, and activists extraordinaire Mickey and Nina McCoy. Two of the stand-out speakers were Miranda Brown and Cari Moore, who spoke for the youth environmental movement, representing the Kentucky Student Environmental Coalition (KSEC). Miranda and Cari were able to represent people impacted by the different ends of the dirty cycle of coal: Eastern Kentucky Power Cooperative has proposed to build a new coal-fired power plant in Miranda's home county, and destructive mining practices have ravaged land in Cari's home region of Eastern Kentucky.

Miranda and Cari understand that there's a better way, and they're not alone. After the rally on the capitol a delegation of more than 20 KFTC young people – all between the ages of 5 and 25 – met with five members of Gov. Beshear’s staff. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss concerns about the harm that mountaintop removal coal mining creates as well as talk about creating a transition towards a clean and sustainable energy economy. Youth presented information about the pollution and destruction caused by MTR mining as well as presented information about the economic benefits that would result from the state investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy. By the meeting's end, the group of youth received a commitment to meeting with Gov. Beshear within a month.

"Renewable is Doable" KFTC youth meeting with Beshear Administration from Kentuckians For The Commonwealth on Vimeo.

Young people in Kentucky understand that blowing up mountains, polluting streams, and relying on a dirty nonrenewable resource for our electricity is a bad idea; it's high time our elected officials understood that, too!

One of the easiest actions you can take to clue in our representatives is to call the Kentucky Legislative Message Line. It's easy and only takes a few minutes!

Call 1-800-372-7181 and ask to leave a message for House and Senate Leadership, Rep. Jim Gooch (chair of the House Natural Resources committee), Sen. Brandon Smith (chair of the Senate Natural Resources + Energy committee), and your own representatives (the nice LRC ladies should be able to tell you who they are, or you could find out here).

Sample message: "Please support the Stream Saver Bill--House Bill 416 and Senate Bill 139. We must stop destroying our mountains, our water, and our communities."

The line is open til 11pm on weekdays, so you have plenty of time to make the call!

Your voice matters, let it be heard!