Mountaintop Removal Road Show

Friends of the Appalachian Mountains,

It's been a busy Fall - for three days in December I staffed a Mountaintop Removal Road Show booth at the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) convention in Cincinnati.  You can just imagine my surprise when I arrived at the convention and saw a booth with a display board that said "Mountaintop Road Show" being staffed by members of the Kentucky Coal Association. 

"Mountaintop Road Show?" Gosh - that sounds so familiar.  I wonder if the Coal Association folks were trying to confuse the school teachers.  Sheesh.

The NSTA convention is where all the budget-strapped school teachers of America come to get free teaching materials and DVDs to educate our kids. 

Through a Sierra Club grant, I was able to distribute almost 500 free Teachers Guides on mountaintop removal, containing a 30-minute DVD about mountaintop removal, a lesson plan for teachers, and some Sierra Club literature on renewable energy and global warming.  Many teachers remarked that they were glad to get these materials, since they would be teaching about energy issues in their upcoming Earth Science, Biology, Environmental and Social Studies classes.

Most of the NSTA booths had textbooks, frog dissection kits and similar items for science teachers on display, but organizations like The American Petroleum Institute and the American Nuclear Society were there with their booths and their DVDs.  I think it's important that the environmental groups make a greater effort to get teaching materials into the hands of our school treachers.  Thanks to Julian and Judy V-E for this great idea.

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It looks like the Mountaintop Removal Road Show will be growing next year, so if you would like a presentation on mountaintop removal at your school, church, civic or community group next year, please email me back and we can make arrangements.  I have a calendar on my website and it's mostly open for next year, but it will probably be filling up rapidly over the next month or so.  Check http://www.mountainroadshow.com/

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And welcome to all the new people on this list.  This monthly newsletter is all about mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia, and some ways that you can become better informed and involved in helping stop this terrible destruction of America's oldest mountains.  The people of Appalachia need help from people like you in stopping mountaintop removal.

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Mountaintop removal (MTR) is now becoming an international issue - check out this excellent short 3 min news clip from the BBC 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7772451.stm

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Upcoming events:

Dec 19-21, Mountain Justice Winter Solstice Campout, Frog Level TN - near Great Smoky Mountains National Park - YOU ARE INVITED!
If you love mountains, camping, hiking, the forest and all that is wild come spend a rejuvenating weekend with friends in the woods. The camping is a short walking distance from the parking area and is easily
accessible.  Directions and more info: http://www.mountainjustice.org/events.php?id=105

Jan 9-11 Mountain Justice meeting, Camp Blanton, Harlan County KY - to help plan the upcoming Mountain Justice Training Camp, which is May 16-22 at Camp Blanton.  We will go hiking on Sunday on beautiful Pine Mountain.

Jan 30 - Feb 1 Kentucky Sierra Club Activist Weekend, Jabez KY near Lake Cumberland.  Learn how to become an environmental activist from experienced club leaders, and meet the great young student activists powering clean energy campaigns on campus.  http://kentucky.sierraclub.org/

Feb 27 - Mar 2 Powershift, Washington DC - 10,000 students taking action for renewable energy - mark your calendar, this is gonna be huge!http://powershift09.org/

March 7-15 Mountain Justice Spring Break, east Tennessee - details forthcoming

May 16-22 Mountain Justice Camp, Harlan County KY - the fifth annual Mountain Justice Summer camp!  Great food, awesome mountains, old-growth forests, workshops, entertainment, mountain music, bonfires, dancing, hiking, tours of mountaintop removal sites, lots more.   http://www.mountainjustice.org/

May 23-25 Heartwood Forest Council, Camp Blanton, Harlan County KY
Highly recommended.
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A wonderful and inspiring film about mountaintop removal will be aired on public television soon - Kilowatt Ours.   If you have not seen this film, starring "Mountain Keeper" Larry Gibson from West Virginia, I urge you to check it out - the listings below are state-by-state:

Washington, DC, WETA, 12/28 at 6pm

Kentucky:

Louisville, KY, KET2, 12/14 Sun 6pm, 12/26 Fri 3:00 PM
NE Kentucky, WOUB-Athens OH, Channel 20.1, 20.2, 44.2, 12/15 at 9pm, 12/16 at 2am
NE Kentucky, WOUB-Athens OH, Channel 20.3, 12/16 at 3PM, 12/20 at 8pm
NE Kentucky, WOUB-Athens OH, Channel 44.1, 12/16 at 9pm
Statewide, KY, KET3 Instructional Television 12/15 Mon 11:00am, 12/27 Sat 12:00am
Statewide, KY, KET1, 12/30 Tue 3:00am, 12/30 Tue 9:00pm

North Carolina:

Charlotte, NC, WTVI & WTVI-DT, 12/5 at 1am, 12/5 at 4am (if you are in Charlotte and would like more waking hours to view KO, please contact viewer services and ask for a rebroadcast at a more decent hour)

Ohio: 

Athens and SE Ohio, OH, WOUB, Channel 20.1, 20.2, 44.2, 12/15 at 9pm, 12/16 at 2am
Athens and SE Ohio, OH, WOUB, Channel 20.3, 12/16 at 3PM, 12/20 at 8pm
Athens and SE Ohio, OH, WOUB, Channel 44.1, 12/16 at 9pm 

Tennessee:

Bristol, Kingsport, Johnson City, TN, WMSY & WMSY-DT2, WSBN & WSBN-DT2, 12/21 at 5pm
Nashville, TN, WNPT-DT2 (Comcast 241 Charter 176), 12/9 at 7pm, 12/9 at 10pm

Virginia:

Richmond/Charlottesville, VA, WCVE, WHTJ, 1/8/09 at 10pm

West Virginia:

Western West Virginia, WOUB-Athens, OH, Channel 20.1, 20.2, 44.2, 12/15 at 9pm, 12/16 at 2am
Western West Virginia, WOUB-Athens, OH, Channel 20.3, 12/16 at 3PM, 12/20 at 8pm
Western West Virginia, WOUB-Athens, OH, Channel 44.1, 12/16 at 9pm

KILOWATT OURS: A PLAN TO RE-ENERGIZE AMERICA is an award-winning film that provides simple, practical, affordable solutions to America's energy crisis and shows how we can save electricity, save money and make a difference for ourselves and the planet.  Visit KilowattOurs.org for a short sneak preview or to locate a TV broadcast or community screening in your state.

If the film is not currently scheduled in your community, you may wish to contact the viewer services department at your local public television station to find out if they are planning to show this hopeful film that inspires energy conservation and change for most people who see it.  

Kilowatt Ours' is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.  Sponsors include:  Turner Foundation, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, The Sierra Club Foundation, Johnson Controls, Mother Earth News, Utne Reader, Stonyfield Farm, and Renewable Choice Energy.  For more information, visit www.KilowattOurs.org.
   
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Thanks everyone - hope to see you on the road.

Dave
  
Dave Cooper

The Mountaintop Removal Road Show
http://www.mountainroadshow.com/ 
608 Allen Ct.
Lexington KY 40505
(859) 299 5669

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