LISTEN TO TIM DECHRISTOPHER, MARK AND MARY LOU MUNN HERE:
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Monday, in one of the largest-ever national protests to end mountaintop removal, thousands converged near the White House and more than a hundred were arrested.
Tim DeChristopher in front of the White House.
The demonstration, called Appalachia Rising, consisted of Appalachian residents, retired coal miners, scientists and faith leaders who are demanding that the Obama Administration end the destructive practice that poisons communities and streams. They called on the Obama Administration to immediately abolish the practice of blowing up mountains and dumping the debris into nearby streams and valleys to reach seams of coal.
Tim DeChristopher, who disrupted a federal auction of 22,500 acres of oil leases two years ago, was part of the demonstration. DeChristopher said: “The Obama administration is still in the pocket of the same fossil fuel corporations that the Bush administration was, and is allowing this war against the people of Appalachia to continue. This is the first time Appalachia residents have come together like this in Washington, D.C. to not just beg for their rights, to not just lobby, but to demand their rights and to take a strong stand. This is unprecedented for this movement and for these people.”
Mark and Mary Lou Munncame down from State College, Pennsylvania to participate. Mark said, “It’s a travesty that West Virginia, parts of Kentucky, Tennessee are treated like third world countries. Worse than third world countries in terms of the industrial devastation of people’s livelihoods and resources, and it’s time that people are aware that this is going on in our country and stand up against it.”
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- The Movement Against Mountaintop Removal, 10/27/10
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- Upside Down World: Chief Erasmus Discusses the Proposed Keystone XL Pipeline, 9/7/11