Senior Citizens March 25 Miles to End Mountaintop

posted by: Beth B.

Fifteen individuals between the ages of 50 and 83 set off on a March to End Mountaintop Removal at 10 a.m. on October 8th, 2009. The march was preceded by a rally and press conference in front of the State Capitol building in Charleston, Virginia, and is sponsored by a coalition that includes Climate Ground Zero, Mountain Justice, Intergenerational Justice and Christians for the Mountains. It is part of an ongoing civil disobedience campaign against mountaintop removal in West Virginia.

The seniors are walking five miles each day for five days, ending at Massey subsidiary Mammoth Coal on Monday, Oct. 12. In a statement issued by the US Mine Safety & Health Administration yesterday, Mammoth Coal was named as one of ten mining operators that need to improve performance or face tougher enforcement.

The mountaintop removal mine and processing plant, formerly operated by Cannelton Coal, was bought out by Massey in 2004. Massey cut the United Mine Workers of America contract and reopened the site, located east of Charleston on Route 60, as the non-union Mammoth Coal Company. The decision was met with a UMWA-organized picket and lawsuits.

"Mountaintop removal is closing in on our home place in Coal River, destroying the ridge up and down the river," said Julian Martin, 73, a coal miner's son and Vice President of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, "I see mountaintop removal as probably the world's worst environmental disaster." Martin's grandfather fought in the largest organized labor uprising in United States history, the Battle of Blair Mountain.

March organizers Roland Micklem, 81, and Andrew Munn, 23, are planning activities and speaking events each evening, including talks by Larry Gibson of the Keepers of the Mountain Foundation and Jesse Johnson, 2004 and 2008 Green Party gubernatorial candidate at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Charleston on Friday and Saturday night.

This action is monumental in demonstrating the way that mountaintop removal mining affects the lives of all humans, regardless of age, occupation, religion or political orientation. In a movement that is characterized by the actions of the "young and the restless" these seniors are taking a stand against the unneccessary destruction of West Virginia's mountains.

"We seniors need to make a statement with our own actions and share the risks that are part of this ongoing effort to stop the obliteration of West Virginia’s mountains," said Micklem, a Korean War veteran and former environmental journalist. His organizing philosophy is rooted in Ghandian principles of nonviolent civil disobedience and dialogue with opposition; the energetic senior invited Massey Energy officials to speak with him at the gates of Mammoth Coal Company on Monday. Micklem has not yet received a response.

These seniors are setting an incredible example for young activists, who sometimes have difficulty channeling their passion into peaceful, productive protests.

"As a young person, it is inspiring to see the strength with which senior citizens are stepping forward to meet the task at hand," said Munn, "Climate justice and the preservation of ecological and cultural heritage are issues for all generations, so I think it is fitting that we see this coalition emerging at the forefront of the movement to stop mountaintop removal."

Updates and multimedia can be found on www.climategroundzero.org
http://www.care2.com/causes/environment/blog/senior-citizens-march-25-miles-to-end/