Comments MtnButterfly has made

  • but I do consider myself....

    ...a Mountaineer.  

    Its true, I'm not from West Virginia, I dont share a rich Appalachian history with those from Central Appalachia, and I dont have any coal miners in my family line.  But I have been fortunate and blessed to become close to hundreds of residents and activists living in southern West Virginia and particularly around Coal River Mountain.  They are some of the most kind, caring, beautiful and accepting people I've ever known, and I love them dearly.  

    I personally am from Virginia, have grown up all over the southeast, mostly in suburbia, but my heart and soul belong to the Coal River Valley and to Coal River Mountain.  I know the mountain better than I've ever known a neighborhood or the woods in my backyard, and I know the local residents almost as well.  

    I dont know how many years it takes to become an official resident of West Virginia, but I'm not going anywhere.  This is my home now.  And I'm going to help protect it.On Thousands protest against coal in front of D.C.'s Capitol Power Plant posted 9 months ago 18 Responses

  • Personal Invitation to Al Gore

    Dear Mr. Gore,

    As a member of Coal River Mountain Watch, I urge you to come and visit Coal River Mountain and to learn more about our campaign.  In my opinion, the battle we are waging to save Coal River Mountain symbolizes the very battle you are waging to save the Earth from the devastating impacts of climate change.  The battle against climate change can only be won by transitioning the Central Appalachia coalfield economy away from coal mining - especially the devastating method known as Mountaintop Removal - and toward a cleaner, green, sustainable economy that will help stabilize these rural areas and create new economy opportunities that communities here so desperately need.

    Folks in the Coal River Valley are waging a campaign to get a wind farm developed as a viable and necessary alternative to a proposed ten square mile Mountaintop Removal mine.  THe mining will lead to the release of millions of tons of carbon through the decomposition of the ten square miles of forest that will be destroyed.  The coal from the MTR mining will end up contributing over 100 million tons of CO2 to the atmosphere.  The valley fills will permanently bury over 20 miles of stream while contaminating another 40 to 60 miles with sediment and toxic heavy metals.  The blasting will ruin the foundations of nearby communities, while the mining and valley fills will place thousands in danger of massive flash floods.  Finally, by reducing the ridges by hundreds of feet, the mining will destroy the 400+ Megawatts of clean wind energy potential that currently exists.

    The wind farm, by contrast, will generate clean energy forever, thus preventing the addition of hundreds of millions of CO2 to the atmosphere.  It will provide local residents with permanent, safe jobs, forever.  It will contribute over $2 Million in tax revenue for Raleigh County - one of the poorest counties in the nation - and this money could be used to stimulate the creation of other economic development projects that will futher diversify the economy and help break the coal stranglehold.  

    This area needs this wind farm to be developed.  Coalfield residents need us to win, in order to spark some hope that things can and will change in the Central Appalachian coalfields.  And everyone needs your help.  We need you to help convince Governor Manchin that the wind farm is a far better option for the local communities, for the economy, and for West Virginia as a whole.  

    So again, we urge you to get involved and help us get a wind farm on Coal River Mountain.  If we lose this one, there is little hope that we will ever be able to stop MTR and begin transitioning the local economies away from coal.  PLease visit the Coal River Valley, talk with the residents here, learn about our campaign and then meet with Governor Manchin and help us get this wind farm.  The choice being made here perfectly reflects the choices we must make as a nation if we are going to win the climate battle.  All change comes from the bottom up, and the change here begins in the valleys, but its success depends on saving the peaks.  

    Thank you,

    Rory McIlmoil
    Coal River Mountain Wind ProjectOn Speak now against the rape of Coal River Mountain posted 1 year ago 6 Responses

  • Wind vs. Strip-mining

    John,

    In the spirit of providing complete information, Mr. Barton and Lamar Alexander fail to mention that the practice of strip-mining in Tennessee is becoming more widespread, as it is across Central Appalachia, and leaves a landscape far more "intruded" than do wind turbines.  Strip-mining, and more specifically, Mountaintop Removal Mining, destroy the "beautiful Cumberland mountain setting," leaving behind a wasteland of rubble and a poisoned water supply.  Anything, including wind turbines, is better than this, and I assure you that most of the folks living in the affected valleys will agree.  Dont buy into arguments such as these, they hide the realities of continuing our dependence on coal.  I agree that an across-the-board RPS standard may not be fair to some states, but states such as Tennessee can find other ways of producing energy than just wind.  Finally, the "carbon-free" energy that Mr. Barton refers to is largely nuclear.  Take that as you will.

    Thank you for all you do,

    Rory McIlmoilOn More intransigence on climate change posted 2 years, 5 months ago 38 Responses

  • Mis-guided

    You guys are ripping Gore rather than discussing climate change.  Which makes you nothing more than practicioners of diversion, just like the weasels that got us in this mess and delayed action in the first place.  I for one applaud Gore and laud the US for its inaction.  On Inspirational posted 2 years, 9 months ago 8 Responses