Alaska Activist Helps Turn the Tide Against Coal

Mike O'Meira says he's been a "posy sniffer" for as long as he can remember. Born in Los Angeles, he visited Alaska for the first time in 1968 with his former wife, Jan. "We saw Denali in sunlight and Homer in the rain," he remembers. "The land was mostly open and unspoiled—lots of clean air, good water, and wildlife."

The couple returned the following summer and decided to stay. "I was a Sierra Club member," O'Meara says, "so I looked around for the local chapter and they were just forming one in Anchorage." Three years later, he and Jan acquired 120 acres of undeveloped land overlooking the mouth of Kachemak Bay, below.

Photo by Hobig.

"I quickly got drawn into activities here," O'Meara says. "The state had illegally issued oil and gas leases in Kachemak Bay without public notice or public hearings. That was common in Alaska back then, but a lot of people here made their living by commercial fishing and they were very concerned."

As well, several native villages on the south side of the bay rely on commercial and subsistence fishing. A coalition formed opposing the oil and gas leases, O'Meara got involved, and the upshot was that the state bought back the leases and designated Kachemak Bay as a critical habitat area.

In 1976 he and Jan moved to the homestead in Homer, where O'Meara has lived ever since. For 29 years he worked as an educator—10 as a school teacher and 19 at the Pratt Museum in Homer, which focuses on the art, science, and culture of Kachemak Bay. He retired last in 2008

O'Meara's activist energies have lately been directed toward coal—specifically, the successful effort to get his local utility, Homer Electric Association (HEA), to pull out of a deal to re-start the Healy #2 coal plant north of Anchorage. That's O'Meara, below, leading a rally outside HEA's offices in January 2009.

For the last four years, O'Meara has served as spokesman for the HEA Members Forum. "We don't have a formal organizational structure, so I attend HEA meetings and serve as eyes & ears for the co-op. I send out email updates and action alerts, write letters-to-the-editor to newspapers around the state, and organize events like the one we held in January to keep Healy #2 closed."

The Fight for Resurrection Bay

Russ Maddox's activism has been gathering steam since 2001, when a neighboring property owner decided to incinerate a huge debris pile—including a Quonset hut, a trailer, a storage shed, a school bus, and several old cars—50 feet from their shared property line.

Maddox operates a business on his property, which was covered with lead-laden ash that rendered his well water unfit for consumption. He won a civil suit over the incident, but the experience prompted him to co-found the Resurrection Bay Conservation Alliance in 2003 and Communities for Democracy in Alaska in 2006. Above right, Maddox with members of the Conservation Alliance.

In 2006, Maddox spearheaded local opposition to a proposed coal-fired power plant in Seward, the gateway town to Kenai Fjords National Park. The proposal met with widespread local opposition, but the Seward City Council was for it. So Maddox got together with folks from the Sierra Club and the Conservation Alliance, formed a coalition to fight the plant, and got a petition going.

Photo by Dave LaForest

Seward sits at the head of Resurrection Bay, above, in a huge valley surrounded by mountains, and frequent inversions already trap smoke from wood stoves. "Coal emissions would have compounded with the smoke in a watershed and a region that's highly dependant on our fisheries," Maddox says. "It's the worst possible place for a new coal facility."

The coalition presented viable alternatives like hydro, tidal, and wind power, gathered more than 600 signatures in a town of 3,000 people, and generated over 100 public comments favoring alternatives to coal. They also found that the developer's "model" coal plant in Montana had closed after a long history of permit violations and broken promises to the community and the EPA.

In September 2006, the Seward City Council voted down the project, and the company withdrew its proposal.

As usual with conservation battles, no sooner is one threat vanquished than a new one arises. Also as usual, Maddox is on the front lines. This time the problem is coal dust.

Alaskan Grandmother Organizes to Stop Coal Plant

Folks who know Judy Heilman like to call her "Grammy Beluga." She's a grandma all right, and the "Beluga" part comes from the name of the tiny community on the west side of Alaska's Cook Inlet where she lives with her husband Larry in the log home he hand-built for their retirement. That's Judy and Larry, below, at Beluga's 4th of July celebration this year.

Beluga and the neighboring native village of Tyonek are less than 50 miles as the crow... er, bald eagle flies from Anchorage, but there is no road access. The area is home to moose, black and brown bears, and wolves, and the Chuitna River supports all five wild Pacific salmon species.

Photo courtesy of Cook Inletkeeper

But the community got its name from the Beluga whales, above, that calve, feed, and raise their young in the waters of Cook Inlet, below. Officially a "near-threatened" species, the beluga subpopulation in Cook Inlet is considered critically endangered and is protected under the Endangered Species Act. "There aren't many places left in the world like this," Heilman says.

 
Photo by Brendan McMurrer

But PacRim Coal, a Delaware-based company backed by Texas investors, is proposing one of the largest strip mines in the country on a tributary of the Chuitna River, below. If the Alaska Department of Natural Resources approves the project, it will be the first time the state has allowed a mining company to directly mine through a known salmon-bearing stream.

Heilman and others are spearheading local opposition to the mine. "We're trying to protect our homes, our lifestyles, and the fish and game that we depend on," Heilman says. "The vast majority of people in Beluga and Tyonek oppose the mine because it will destroy our way of life. If we don't recognize this unique and fragile area as unsuitable for coal strip mining, no place in Alaska will be safe." Below, the beach at Beluga.

 

Hundreds Rally to Roll Beyond Coal in Texas

On Halloween, hundreds of Texans rallied to Roll Beyond Coal in Austin, Dallas, Beaumont, Corpus Christi, and Alpine, to advocate for clean power and green jobs and ask the EPA to stop the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) from permitting 12 new proposed coal plants in the state.

"The Austin Sierra Club, the Sierra Student Coalition, and our environmental partners had an incredible Roll Beyond Coal rally," says Lone Star Chapter organizer Donna Hoffman. "We petitioned the EPA to do the right thing and help Austin quit coal by 2020."

SSC Gets Congressional Face Time on Climate Change

The Sierra Student Coalition (SSC) at the University of Nevada Las Vegas teamed up with the Southern Nevada Sierra Club and the Clean Energy Works Coalition to turn out 120 people for a 90-minute "meet-and-greet" on October 12 with Congresswoman Dina Titus in downtown Las Vegas.

That's SSC Chair Illonka Zlatar, above, speaking with Titus about the group's upcoming International Day of Climate Action event on the UNLV campus. Titus is a former political science professor at UNLV.

"She's been a leader in the environmental movement," Zlatar says. "I thanked her for everything she's done and told her about the SSC and our October 22 event on campus. She was really positive about our agenda." Below, SSC members with Titus at the meet-and-greet.

This year's International Day of Climate Action is centered on the theme of 350, a worldwide campaign to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, the level scientists consider safe limit for humanity. The current CO2 level is 387 parts per million.

At UNLV, SSC is teaming up with other student organizations to host the 12-hour event. "We'll have booths, tables, great food and music, cultural performances, an eco-friendly fashion show, a sustainability-themed art show, and an Earthstyles Lounge where people can learn about lifestyle choices that ease the weight of our footprint on the planet," Zlatar says.

A solar-powered trailer and panels from UNLV's solar energy program will help power film screenings and live performances. Starting this year, the university is offering a minor in solar energy.

"One of the big goals of our event," says Zlatar, "is to collect signatures demanding strong climate action from our elected officials-not only within our borders, but also at the United Nations' Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this December. Then the next day, Friday October 23rd, we'll rally at City Hall, deliver the signatures to our elected leaders, and literally make our voices heard!"

A photo of all assembled at City Hall will be taken at 1:00pm and uploaded to the International Day of Climate Action website.

Learn more about 350 and what you can do to get involved.

Activists Push Clean Energy on National Day of Action

Photo courtesy of Topeka Capital-Journal

The last week of September, Sierra Club activists from coast to coast participated in a National Day of Action to voice their support for clean energy. At rallies, public hearings, press conferences, town hall meetings, brown bag lunches, and coal tours, citizens drove home the message that the country is ready to move beyond coal and invest in clean energy.

Above, Kansas Chapter activists held a press conference in Lawrence, calling on Topeka-based Westar Energy to install more effective pollution controls and improve compliance with the Clean Air Act. Sierra Club representative Stephanie Cole is pictured speaking at the event.

As part of the Day of Action, the Club's Campuses Beyond Coal campaign held photo petition events on a dozen college campuses. At the University of Colorado, below, students heard Club organizer Roger Singer talk about ways to phase out coal-based energy from Xcel Energy and the Valmont coal plant in Boulder, then collected more than 240 photo petitions to help make it happen.

In Washington and Oregon, hundreds rallied and testified at public hearings held by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council on its draft plan for energy use in the region over the next 20 years. Below, ralliers in Eugene, Oregon.

 

In Louisiana, activists rallied outside Entergy's headquarters in New Orleans, below, to demand serious investment in renewable technology and energy efficiency. The theme of the rally was "Christmas in September," and Santa had a bag of coal addressed to Entergy's CEO. "We received support not only from people on the street, but surprisingly, from those working in Entergy Tower," says Sierra Club organizer Jordan Macha.

Clean Energy Jobs Bill Kicks Off Fall Global Warming Debate in Congress

Clean energy activists, veterans, and business leaders rallied at the U.S. Capitol on September 30 in support of the new climate bill introduced by Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) to cut carbon pollution in the U.S. and stimulate the economy by creating millions of jobs in the renewable energy sector.

Pictured below at the rally are Sierra Club staffers Jessica Hodge, Lala Shamirzaian, Audrey Newton, Megan Greenwood, and Justin Guay.

 

The Kerry-Boxer bill, officially called the Clean Energy Jobs & America Power Act, would create clean energy jobs, reduce pollution, and protect American security by enhancing domestic energy production and combating global climate change. Kerry and Boxer were joined by nine Senate supporters at the rally, which kicks off the autumn global warming debate in Congress.

Las Vegas Rallies for Clean Energy

Bright and early Monday morning, hundreds of clean energy and green jobs supporters gathered to rally on the steps of the Cox Pavilion at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas campus.

The rally was to counter an anti-American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) rally some dirty energy supporters conjured up at Senator Harry Reid's "National Clean Energy Summit 2.0." Speakers at the summit included Vice President Al Gore, T. Boone Pickens, Kathy Zoe, Senator Reid, President Bill Clinton, and many others - all there to support clean domestic renewable energy development. 

Emily Rhodenbaugh, a clean energy organizer for our Nevada chapter, said the Sierra Club joined many other groups for the rally.

"The unlikely coalition included IBEW, Plumbers and Pipefitters, Sheet Metal Workers, Carpenters, Nevada Conservation League, Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN), OFA 2.0, Democratic Black Caucus, Allied Trades, and many other progressive organizations," she said. "Together it was the power of all those organizations which allowed for our one clear voice to be heard: 'Green Jobs!'

"We broadened our coalition in Nevada, and paved the way for a more sustainable future for our state.  I believe it set a great example of the power the can be built, and it’s been said that this was one of the largest pro-green jobs rally to date that the Sierra Club has put together."

Danny Thompson, head of the AFL-CIO in Nevada, speaks to the clean energy rally.

Congrats, Nevada organizers!

Photos by Emily Rhodenbaugh

Crowd Thanks Luján for ACES Vote

 

Article by guest writer Shannon Goggin.

On July 2^nd, shortly after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), members of the environmental community were celebrating around the country. New Mexico House Representative Ben Ray Luján (D-3-NM) was celebrating too- by holding a Town Hall meeting to get a discussion started about the steps necessary to build a clean energy economy in New Mexico. It also focused on the work that Representative Luján has been doing to promote a clean energy economy and create green jobs.

The Town Hall was attended by nearly 50 citizens, who got together to discuss what they wanted to see happen and talk to Rep. Luján. It was a great success. Rep. Luján thanked Sierra Club several times for our hard work and support in getting ACES passed. Then, Rep. Luján and Sierra Club representatives Molly Brook, Margaret Gray, Michael Casaus, Rep. Luján, Norma McCallan, and Shrayas Jatkar and took this great picture.

 

Representative Luján was a champ on ACES from the outset. He worked with Representatives Waxman (D-30-CA) and Markey (D-7-MA) to be sure that green jobs training was included in the bill, and fought to keep it strong as it worked its way to the House floor. He has consistently fought for positive environmental change, and renewable energy solutions throughout his career. His environmental leadership is a great thing for New Mexico and the United States.

This is just one example of the kinds of mutual recognition of hard work that have been taking place all over the country. If you get a chance, make sure to thank your Representative if they voted for America’s clean energy future! To do that, you can click here to reach your Representative.

 

Confrontation in West Virginia

 

Larry Gibson lives on a 50-acre homestead on the side of Kayford Mountain in West Virginia that has been in his family for 200 years. More than 300 of his ancestors are buried in the cemetery on Kayford Mountain. 

The mountains of southern Appalachia are home to a rich cultural heritage, as well as some of the most bio-diverse forests on earth. They are also rich in coal, and since 1986, mountaintop removal mining (MTR) has been steadily demolishing Kayford Mountain, leaving behind the moonscape pictured below.

Larry's homestead used to be surrounded by peaks and ridges supporting deep forests and mountain streams. The Gibson's haven't moved, but their house now occupies the highest point of land around, as the surrounding 12,000 acres of Kayford Mountain have been blasted to smithereens. The Gibson's cabin is the right-most structure in the settlement pictured below. In 2007 a portion of the cemetery where the Gibson's relatives are buried was bulldozed.

For more than 20 years Larry has held out against coal company efforts to buy him out, meanwhile helping found the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation, which celebrates and nurtures mountain culture. The foundation also allows him to travel the country spreading the word about MTR. Larry welcomes concerned citizens, students, journalists, and government officials to visit his homestead to see first-hand what mountaintop removal does to the land.

Larry also helps host the Mountain Keepers Festival over the July 4 weekend at Stanley Heirs Park on Kayford Mountain, where people camp out, learn about the mountains, and share food, stories, music, and solidarity.

This year, a group of people dressed in T-shirts issued by the Massey Energy Company crashed the party, intimidating and verbally threatening festival-goers. They were apparently unarmed, but one half-naked man in their company rubbed meat all over himself and threatened to slit people's throats before Massey employees who were recognized as local residents led him away.

The incident was captured on video. [Viewers, note that this clip contains strong language and is not suitable for children.] State police were contacted, but by the time they arrived two hours later the intruders were nowhere to be found. The video has been forwarded to the West Virginia State Police and the U.S. Department of Justice.

It is not clear whether the intruders acted on their own or were encouraged by Massey, the largest operator of MTR sites in the state. It should also be noted that not all of the party-crashers behaved threateningly; the ones who led the shirtless man away were apparently embarrassed by his behavior, and one member of the Sierra Club's Kentucky Chapter who was in attendance reported that there was "an exchange of barbecue" before the Massey crew drove off.

What is clear is that the practice of mountaintop removal is deeply divisive to residents of southern Appalachia, often pitting neighbor against neighbor and even driving a wedge between family members. Learn more about mountaintop removal mining and how we can move beyond coal.

Kayford Mountain photos by Vivian Stockman, courtesy of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition.