Preaching the Gospel of Justice

Hundreds rally against mountaintop removal

Charleston, WV - Hundreds of people converged on the steps of the capitol building in Charleston Saturday to learn about and voice their opposition to Mountaintop Removal coal mining. The atmosphere of the rally was similar to a festival throughout the varied line-up of speakers and performers.

The Rally was opened in West Virginia style with a prayer and speech from the Rev. Jim Lewis. "You guys are preaching the gospel of justice, " he told the crowd, "This greed will not not buy us off. Greed will not deliver us into wholeness and healthiness and happiness, particularly for the children of our state. What they're doing is wrong."

Larry Gibson, of Kayford, WV, completely agreed with Lewis based on his first hand experience. Larry owns 50 acres of mountaintop that is surrounded by 7538 acres of MTR sites. Countless numbers of people have been inspired to join the resistance to MTR after going up to his land to see the destruction with their own eyes.

"There's nothing there, except my 50 acres," Gibson said of his land. "For me, it's a moral issue. It's not a monetary issue. Everything doesn't have a price on it. Some things you can't buy."

Coal River Mountain Watch volunteer organizer, Bo Webb, asked Governor Joe Manchin to help "Bring an end to the terror in the coalfields." He added, "We hope we now have a governor in place that has a vision for the future of all West Virginia, one who has the courage to break the chains of the coal barons who continue to rape our mountains and destroy our communities."

The Rally comes less than a week after the state officials revoked an earlier approved permit for a second coal silo that was to be placed within 300 feet of Marsh Fork Elementary School. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection is requiring Massey Energy demolish the foundation of the Silo. "That's a first step," Vivian Stockman, Director of The Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition said, "We need to examine every permit."

Stockman provided some comic relief to the rally, attending dressed as "King Coal," complete with a marionette puppet of DEP Secretary Stephanie Timmermeyer holding a sign that read "I obey King Coal." In addition to working the crowd, attempting to buy them off with coal money, King Coal also MCed the Ms. Mountaintop Removal beauty pageant.

Participants in the Pageant, which included the likes of Ms. Coal Silo and Ms. Toxic Sludge, gave a short speech about why they were the most beautiful part of Mountaintop removal.

The Radical Cheerleaders added their own unique brand of expression with cheers like "this is how you spell Resist" and "My name is West Virginia."

The size of the rally was uplifting for Larry Gibson who has noted that "When I started fighting this 18 years ago, I didn't have 2 people behind me. Now look."

Maria gunnoe, who has seen her land flooded seven times since an 1183 acre MTR site opened around her five years ago, shared that same sentiments saying ""With each permit approved, there will be more and more people fighting the destruction caused by the practice of mountaintop removal mining."

Click here to see more actions.