Late Friday afternoon, a small group of environmental activists and citizens—numbering less than two dozen shortly after 5:00 p.m.—gathered outside the Chattanooga offices of the Tennessee Valley Authority to protest mountaintop mining.
The protest was organized by United Mountain Defense, a Knoxville-based group, and was attended by several Chattanooga residents. One of the organizers, who identified herself only as Lilly, said they were protesting here because of the damage this type of mining causes and because they say TVA operates power plants which use MTR-derived coal.
Kelley McCauley, a Chattanooga resident who attended the demonstration with her young daughter, said, "I'm opposed to mountaintop removal. It destroys the landscape, it kills animals. I love trees and I hate to see clearcutting. They have other ways to get coal."
Mountaintop mining is defined by the EPA as "a surface mining practice involving the removal of mountaintops to expose coal seams, and disposing of the associated mining overburden in adjacent valleys -- 'valley fills'." According to the Wall Street Journal, the EPA recently halted the largest-ever mountaintop removal project in the Appalachia region, citing "the magnitude of potential environmental damage."
John Hawbaker
fftspam on Nov. 2, 2009
You said it..... a small group.
I was stopped at the light at 1oth/Pickle Barrel and saw two people with signs. I thought it was something to do with halloween.
When did two people with signs become news?
John Hawbaker on Nov. 2, 2009
As I drove past the demonstration on my way home from work, I was intrigued. So I stopped and talked with a few people (yes, there were almost two dozen when I was there), then wrote about it.
But maybe you aren't interested. Thanks for reading anyway.
Incidentally, in the process of trying to verify some of the claims made by the protestors, I became better informed about the larger issue of mountaintop mining. Win-win.
stevaker on Nov. 2, 2009
I saw several there as well (10 or so at a glance).
Yeah, the whole topic of mountain top mining is very interesting. I think it's a pretty good cause for protest, along with the several other controversial energy harnessing techniques.
joelance on Nov. 3, 2009
While there is certainly nothing wrong with a good old-fashioned protest, I have come to believe that perhaps a more effective way of moving quickly toward change is to approach energy providers and wholesalers in the board room, instead of on the street corner. Or maybe we need both, but my point is that there has to be some tangible business benefit presented as an outcome of stopping the MTR (or whatever).
Yes, that's harder to do than say. I also think there's nothing wrong with tugging at the heartstrings, like presenting MTR's effects on Appalachian communities in as up-close and personal way as possible to those on the energy production side. But one has to be respectful of what that side represents in order to avoid being completely shut down.
Just my $.02...
twitter-13657752 on Nov. 3, 2009
When the media is so tightly owned and corporations are so good at both flying under the media's radar and positive spin in press relations, a few people protesting and bringing attention to an issue is news.
elizabethtallmangazaway on Nov. 12, 2009
As the one who organized the protest and not a member of United Mountain Defense (UMD). I'd like to say that 3 groups were represented in the protest. The local Cherokee Group of the Sierra Club, UMD, and The Rainforest Coalition. We we part of a MUCH Larger National Day to End Mountain Top Removal (MTR). Mountain top removal employees very few people. It is a practice where large coal companies replace workers and destroy committees for the coal easily removed by blasting the top of mountains off. The extra mountain that is not coal is then pushed into the valley between the mountains, this is called VALLEY FILL. Valley fill has been ruled illegal under the clean water acts for decades because it pollutes our water with heavy metals etc. The administration is currently reviewing this process. Also, the landscape and habitat is destroyed d/t the clear cutting and leveling off of the mountains that occur.
TVA is the largest buyer of MTR coal. That means that we, here in Chattanooga, You and ME are the ones who are responsible for destroying these mountains. The local Sierra Club has written letters to the EPA, The current administration, shown movies, talked to legislators, handed out material, used social media, and yes Protested. We are 100% opposed to this practice, it is unnecessarily destroying Appalachia and we will continue to fight it. You can find us at www.tennessee.sierraclub.org
John Hawbaker on Nov. 12, 2009
Hi Elizabeth,
Thanks for sharing. I spoke with a few people at the demonstration but must have missed you as it was winding down.
One of the people I spoke with also made the statement, "TVA is the largest buyer of MTR coal," but I was unable to verify it independently. The only citations online were from anti-MTR web sites (no news articles, etc.).