Support Wind and Save a Mountain

Recently SEAC has had the amazing opportunity to be part of a totally radical, but just plain practical new project: Getting wind farms on potential Mountaintop Removal sites. After a mountain has been blown to hell, well, it's not so good for wind. But if we can prevent the destruction of the mountain, we can fuel our country while stopping dirty coal.

The only thing cooler would be to find a way to harvest the hot air put out by coal companies trying to convince us that coal is chock full of "Clean." Read the info below to learn more about what you can do to support this amazing new initiative...

As you know, we are at an exciting intersection -- we can keep investing in dangerous and destructive coal technologies, or we can build up a clean, just, sustainable future with renewable energy. That choice currently lies at Coal River Mountain in southern West Virginia. Residents there have chosen to invest in wind energy instead of a 6,600 acre Mountaintop Removal site. This would save Coal River Mountain for wind development, protect more than 10 miles of streams, and help to reduce global warming by preventing the release of over 80 million tons of CO2 over the next twenty years. Unfortunately, a major Appalachian coal company, Massey Energy, has already applied for 4 permits to mine this land for coal using the dirtiest and destructive form of coal mining known - Mountaintop Removal.

This is our chance to be part of a landmark decision -- a decision against global warming, for clean water, for a new and healthy energy economy and against the destruction of an entire mountain. Community members are working together to inform local and state government about how wind power stands as a better option. They are meeting with local leaders, union leaders, churches, and in the near future, the state and even national government in order to ask them to support Wind Energy and deny the mountaintop removal mining permits on Coal River Mountain.

We invite you to go visit www.coalriverwind.org and sign our petition as an individual, to encourage groups to support us by signing on to our Sign On letter below, and if you can, to donate to this grassroots effort to create economic alternatives and save one of West Virginia's finest mountains.

Please email this far and wide, and contact Rory@coalriverwind.org or Lorelei@crmw.net or call Coal River Mountain Watch at 304 854 2182 to find out how you can help make clean energy history!

Best,

The Coal River Wind Project

Coal River Wind Project Sign On Letter

On behalf of our members and supporters we are writing to lend our support to the development of a wind farm on Coal River Mountain in Raleigh County, WV. This is a unique opportunity to move our nation and West Virginia toward the production of clean energy, and to preserve our mountains for the benefit and enjoyment of generations to come. This wind farm would be an alternative to four massive strip-mine permits proposed for Coal River Mountain that would level 6,600 acres and lead to the construction of 18 valley fills.

Residents of Coal River are proposing the development of wind power on Coal River Mountain as a viable economic and environmental alternative to Mountaintop Removal mining in their community, and we strongly support their efforts. This wind farm would:

· Create Jobs – 200 local employment opportunities during construction, and 50 permanent jobs during the life of the wind farm. It takes only 35 years for a wind farm to provide a greater number of one-year jobs than the four surface mines combined.

· Create Energy – Provide 440MW - or enough energy for 150,000 homes – indefinitely, as well as a sustained tax income that could be used for the construction of new schools for the county.

· Create Economic Potential – Allow for concurrent uses of the mountain including harvesting of wild ginseng and valuable forest plants, sustainable forestry, and mountain tourism, as Coal River Mountain is one of West Virginia's finest mountains.

· Preserve Heritage – Coal River Mountain has provided for the people of the Coal River Valley for generations. A mountaintop removal mine would block residents from the mountain and destroy the lands ancestors once lived on, as well as the family cemeteries they rest in.

· Protect the Land and Community – More than 500,000 acres in West Virginia alone have been destroyed by surface mining. Mountaintop Removal mining buries and poisons drinking water, increases flooding, damages homes and personal property, and devastates wildlife habitat.

According to the four permit applications, surface mining on Coal River Mountain will produce coal and energy for, at most, about 15 years. In contrast, a wind farm will produce energy, jobs and revenue for as long as the wind blows. As studies have shown, a reclaimed MTR site is not suitable for wind development for two main reasons: 1.) The construction of wind farms on strip-mined lands is more difficult and prohibitively expensive because the post-mined land is unstable. 2.) The wind patterns change when a mountaintop is remove, and by removing hundreds of feet of altitude, surface mining reduces the strength of the wind.

The Coal River Wind Farm is a better choice for West Virginia because it will support the development of future initiatives that will help stimulate economic diversification across West Virginia and the Central Appalachian region as a whole. Coal River Mountain, and West Virginia, can become a model for how alternative energy development can revitalize local economies.

We encourage Governor Manchin, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, and Rowland Land Company to support the Coal River Mountain wind farm, and to support local residents in their push to rescind the mining permits on Coal River Mountain in order to install this wind farm. There is a new, exciting choice for West Virginia, and we invite you to move forward with us in our pursuit of clean energy and a sustainable future.

Sincerely,
Coal River Mountain Watch
Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition
Appalachian Voices
Student Environmental Action Coalition

and many more...

Sign the petition, volunteer, donate, join our mailing list, or learn how you can support this landmark alternative to mountaintop removal mining at www.coalriverwind.org.