Hannah, Hansen to attend mountaintop removal protest

Big coal is being challenged by big names in a protest scheduled for Tuesday, including actress Daryl Hannah, former Congressman Ken Hechler, and NASA climatologist James Hansen.

The elementary has been in the middle of a debate between environmentalists and Massey Energy for more than 4 years. The school sits next to a mountaintop removal site and about 400 yards away from an impoundment holding back almost three billion gallons of coal slurry.

Hansen is expected to give a speech about the effects of coal and mountaintop removal on the environment.

Demonstrators are planning to walk from the school to nearby Massey Energy offices. They say they’ll deliver a list of demands to the company and risk arrest by trespassing on company property.

The protest is the latest in a series of attempts to stop mountaintop removal mining.

Just last week, 14 people were arrested for draping a banner across a dragline at a Massey Energy site.

These efforts have coal industry employees fearful for their livelihood.

CEO Don Blankenship criticized the protestors because most of the people arrested were from out of state.

Vernon Haltom of Coal River Mountain Watch says it’s a national issue.

“The rest of the country needs to know Appalachia does not deserve to be a sacrifice sewn for the rest of the country’s cheap energy,” he said.

“The people who live here are paying dearly for everyone’s cheap electricity and we’re not going to take it anymore.”

The protest starts with a Hansen’s speech at 12:00 p.m. at Marsh Fork Elementary followed by a march at 1:00 p.m.

Hansen has accepted Blankenship’s challenge to a debate about mountaintop removal.

The debate is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, June 24.

Hansen says he will talk with or without Blankenship. Hansen is inviting the public to hear his speech. The place and time are still in the works.

Representatives with Massey Energy did not return our calls for comment on Monday.