Bravo Hansen! Stop coal! Stop mountain top removal!

Bravo Hansen!

Help stop coal!!!

Stop permits for new coal fired power plants!

Stop mountain top removal!

Stop coal company lies!

Stop the destruction of the environment!

Bravo Hansen!

Comments from Dot Earth blog at the New York Times:

1. Arthur Smith, Selden, NY, June 23rd, 2009, 5:44 p.m.

It is not only in Iran that corrupt governance and selfish tyranny (look up Massey and Blankenship's record!) should spark protests from those most outraged. Andy, even you here make this sound like a minor event, when outrage over MTR has been building for years. You care about schools in quake zones - so why no mention here of the school where the protesters gathered, threatened by the surrounding mines and waste accumulation? Why no mention of the report Joe Romm covered just a couple of days ago - Coal mining costs Appalachians five times more in early deaths than it provides in economic benefits?

Bravo to Hansen and those with him!

3. Chris Colose, New York, June 23rd, 2009, 7:21 p.m.

There is no need for Hansen to lay back and just be a "scientist." The science has convinced him any many others that action must be done to combat climate change, a conclusion also emphasized by the recent Copenhagen synthesis report which clearly stated that "Inaction is Inexcusable." As a leading authority in climate change science, Hansen probably has a responsibility to communicate this message in the public domain given how relevant it is to society and the public welfare. What Hansen is doing is comparable to many other peaceful demosntrations which have had large impacts on society.

7. Robert Brulle, Philadelphia PA, June 23rd, 2009, 8:42 p.m.

Finally, the sustainability movement has taken a step toward true political effectiveness. Instead of clever advertising campaigns that have proven to be ineffectual, Hansen recognizes that nonviolent civil disobedience can have a real impact. The social movement literature shows that under the right circumstances, this type of action can have a large impact.

Robert J. Brulle
Drexel University

13. Laurie Dougherty, Brookline, MA, June 23rd, 2009, 9:42 p.m.

Yes, Bravo, Jim Hansen. The extraction of coal is destructive; the burning of coal is destructive. There is no such thing as clean coal.

I agree that the Waxman-Markey bill has been weakened, and it's very frustrating that there is so much resistance in Congress to taking strong action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but I don't agree with Dr. Hansen that the bill should fail. If it fails to pass, the political momentum would be on the side of those who want to do nothing about climate change and that would give a signal to the world that the US intends to keep on doing nothing. Legislation in place can be improved on as time goes on, but right now I don't know where the support would come from in Congress to produce a drastically better bill from scratch.

If the action Dr. Hansen and his group of activists took today can galvanize more activism and focus public attention, that may do more to build pressure for better legislation than trying to to stop the one chance we have to take a step forward in Congress right now.

This article gives a fuller account of the action including a description of the precarious location of the Marsh Fork Elementary School where the group held its rally before trying to present a set of demands to Massey:
"Marsh Fork Elementary has become infamous for its location: Its children play within 100 yards of one coal silo – soon to be two after a recent state Supreme Court ruling – and sit in classrooms downslope from a coal sludge impoundment holding up to 2.8 billions gallons of toxic liquid behind a dam. Massey's mountaintop mining site and its blasting are nearby, raising fears about the safety of the dam. If the dam broke, the school and its students would be directly in harm's way. "

I second Arthur Smith's question to Andy in Comment #1 about why there was no mention of the school. Andy also failed to mention that many if not most of the demonstrators were not celebrities but were local activists. And also, as well as the climate bill the issue of Mountain-top Removal is also on the Congressional agenda this week: "The issue of mountaintop mining will be in the news again on Thursday when a subcommittee of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee holds Congress's first hearing on the issue in years. The subcommittee chairman, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md), is sponsoring legislation that would outlaw mountaintop mining to protect Appalachia's streams."

http://solveclimate.com...

There is no such thing as clean coal.

14. Susan Anderson, Boston, June 23rd, 2009, 10:31 p.m.

I recently read a comparison between the reaction to the shoe bomber and to mountaintop removal coal mining. It pointed out that the reaction to the former, despite no deaths and the impractical and unlikely nature of repetition, has cost billions along with considerable logistical and personal discomfort.

Mountaintop coal mining, OTOH, has harmed many many people and destroyed massive environments, and the cost to the environment has yet to be counted.

How about some political momentum behind doing what's right.

The costs here are immediate and coal's contribution to climate change due to global warming need not even be factored in to see what's wrong with the procedure.

Whose life matters? This should be a no-brainer.

15. Danny Bloom, Cyberspace, June 23rd, 2009, 10:31 p.m.

This is important. This is good. Long Live Dr Hansen. We need more people willing to cross the line and stand up for the future of humankind. We care. Many of us care. Do it.

A Speech to the Class of 2099 about "tightening the noose around coal," based on the words of Dr Jesse Ausbel and Dr Hansen.

http://tufts2099.blogspot.com

BRAVO HANSEN!!!!