Blankenship Challenges Hansen

Last Saturday a Hollywood actress and a NASA scientist appeared along with a few hundred other protesters deep in southern West Virginia to protest coal mining. Of course, the protest had to take place at the doorstep of an operational mine owned by Massey where a couple of hundred mining supporters stood. Luckily, the outcome of this inherently dangerous event was better than it could have been.

The volatility of the atmosphere was evident throughout the protest. The frustrations exhibited included cursing, name-calling, stopping traffic by sitting in the main road, and one arrest for battery.

Prior to the protest, Massey CEO Don Blankenship invited a debate with Dr. James Hansen, a NASA scientist who was among those arrested last Saturday. To our knowledge this request remains unanswered.

Sources:
The Register Herald

Remember former country-crooner turned environmental evangelist Ashley Judd? Those of us here in the Appalachians are certainly familiar with her.

We at the Coal Energy Now team invite you to enjoy the melodrama Mrs. Judd seems born to exude as evidenced by the sappy dialog filling this video.  Lines with too many words spoken slowly like the mountains dying "so fast, my friends, so shockingly fast" and other frenzy-inducing phrases.

You can thank us later.

WATE TV 6 includes coverage of the recent ruling in favor of mountaintop mining in their series "The Cost of Coal".  Read about the ruling in our previous posts here.