climate ground zero fighting against mountaintop removal coal mining in west virginia

mountaintop removal mining is one of the most environmentally careless practices we close our eyes to. we don’t want to know where our fuel comes from bc when we do we have to look at the faces of those who suffer to give us these comforts and luxuries. ppl throughout the appalachian mountain complexes which span from canada down into the deep south of the united states.

in many places, throughout the appalachians, coal mining is a primary industry, and has been for generations.  these mining company have decided the most effective way to pull the coal out of the mountains is to literally place bombs and blow holes in the mountains.  the dust from this mining is toxic.  the bombs go off  daily spewing dust into the air, the wind takes the dust and scatters it for miles and miles.  this is at every mining site, so if you image that there are mines 50 miles from each other each one blasting toxins into the air, what kind of fucked up mess the residents, animals, flora and fauna are living in!  eating vegetation, drinking water, eating animals and animal byproducts within the hotzone of a blasting site causes all kinds of damage to the metabolic system, digestive system, kidneys and liver.  not to mention breathing in the dust and what that does to the pulmonary and cardiac systems.

there are several groups throughout the appalachians that are fighting the mining industry.  one group is climate ground zero, and i happen to really dig this group!  i came into contact with one of the group members through mutual friends and making each other laugh on facebook comments.  he is smart, cool, and down as hell to get his hands face and feet dirty standing up for what is right!  he is an old man not takin no shit from nobody and i can’t even express how impressed i am with james guin mcguinness!   from there i “met” mike roselle, the director of climate ground zero!

yesterday, this team of environmental superheros ascended on the capital steps of charleston, west virginia carrying with them buckets of mining dust and declaring a hunger strike!  at last word james guin mcguinness had to be taken to the hospital due to high blood pressure but he is released and doing better!   for more information on climate ground zero or mountaintop removal coal mining please visit http://climategroundzero.net/ .  i will do my best to keep everyone uptodate on the action in charleston!

james guin mcguinness and mike roselle with mining dust