Sierra Student Coalition seeks mountaintop removal awareness
By Luke Wright, Staff Writer
September 27, 2007 | 5:29 p.m.
A monument has recently been erected outside Voigt Hall. It does not pay tribute to long-forgotten heroes, nor does it commemorate any of Ohio University’s past achievements. Instead, 296 pounds of black coal lie in a heap, accompanied by a sign that unveils a staggering figure: This is the amount of coal Ohio University burns in two minutes.
Coal is the nation’s most abundant fossil fuel. Mining companies have realized that contributing large amounts of resources to this most-sought-after material will produce hefty dividends. One process by which these mining companies get to the coal buried deep beneath the ground is by mountaintop removal.
A form of surface coal mining, mountaintop removal -- or mountaintop mining -- is practiced primarily in the Appalachian ranges located in West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky. The process of mountaintop mining is a simple, if not invasive, procedure. Using explosives, layers of rock and vegetation are removed from the peak of a mountain in order to extract the cache of coal beneath its surface. Arch Coal, Inc., one of Appalachia’s largest mining companies, states on its Web site that “great care is taken to ensure that the land is restored to a natural and productive state once mining is complete.”
Environmentalist groups vehemently disagree.
Environmentalist organization Mountain Justice Summer proclaims on its Web site that what the coal companies are doing is simply manipulating the public with misinformation. Exhibiting facts of their own, MJS declares that “companies are required to include specific details that demonstrate that the land can and will be put to some productive use… Curiously, a number of mountain removal permits have been approved that include no specific details about post-mining land use.”
MJS claims that mountaintop mining is an unnecessary practice that only devastates the Appalachian mountain’s fragile ecosystem. The organization cites today’s wind turbine technology as a more efficient and environmentally sound alternative.
Awareness hits home
With this hotly disputed environmental battle arising in such close proximity to OU, it was only a matter of time before students got involved. The Sierra Student Coalition was first to invigorate rally support against mountaintop mining.
The SSC is the student-led bureau of the Sierra Club, the nation’s largest grassroots environmental organization, according to its Web site. As an environmental organization, the students knew that something needed to be done to end the abuse of the Appalachian Mountains, a range older than the Himalayas.
To execute this task, the group arranged a benefit that will be held at Jackie O’s from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday, Sept. 28.
“What we want to do is to get people thinking about [mountaintop removal]," said SSC's media coordinator, Elisa Safran. "This is going on in their backyard and people just have no idea.”
Safraid said all of the proceeds of the benefit will be donated to the Mountaintop Awareness Foundation.
“Nobody thinks about it because no one knows about it," Safran said. "You can’t blame somebody for not getting involved when they don’t know in the first place.”
Friday’s benefit will include numerous local bands including Silo Circuit and The Paranormals. From 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 29, another benefit will be held for the Mountaintop Awareness Foundation at the Baker Center pond (aka Emeriti Park). Speakers, live bands, food and a silent auction will all be entertaining guests and donors, while informational booths will be there to inform the more curious individuals hoping to get more involved in this fight. These include a letter-writing booth to encourage and inform students in writing letters to their state representatives about the mountaintop mining.