Current E-Actions, Anywhere, Anytime
No matter where you live you can help out.

MTR obliterates streams. Thanks to SouthWings for the flyover on 8-29-15. Fish-eye lens photo by V. Stockman.

First and foremost, on the mountaintop removal / valley fill coal mining front, we need you to comment to the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement on its long-awaited “Stream Protection Rule,” the latest version of the perpetually unenforced “Buffer Zone Rule.”

As OVEC organizer Dustin White says, “We need your help to make sure this critical rule overcomes industry opposition… The coal industry has spent years trying to stall the rulemaking process and prevent science-based protections for Appalachian streams. If it succeeds in weakening the rule, hundreds of more miles of streams would be threatened by mountaintop removal.”

You can comment in writing online or attend a hearing to speak out. Hearings on the rule start tonight, Sept. 1, in Denver. To find out if there’s a hearing near you, click here. Learn more about the Charleston, WV hearing below and at this link. Soon, on our blog, we’ll be posting talking points to help you make comments, so please check back.

Petitions: 
–Invite the Pope to WV’s Coalfields.
-Curb Climate change? Leave the fossil fuels in the ground! OVEC’s already signed, but we hope you will encourage other groups to sign this letter to global leaders, in advance of the Paris Climate Talks.
–Sign the #Science14 letter; stop the next Climategate: Stand with public sector scientists and show them your support against agenda-driven bullying.

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Upcoming Events in WV ~ Do Come Out!
Sept 1: 6 – 8 p.m. “Public meeting” at DEP headquarters in Charleston, WV. The DEP Division of Air Quality (DAQ) is considering issuing a revised “general permit” for air quality at gas compressor stations (G35-C). See our calendar page for more details.

Sept. 3: Protest Dick Cheney’s Visit to West Virginia Meet up by 11:30 a.m. at the White Sulphur Springs City Park. Details here.

Sept. 4: 7 p.m. Screening of Blood on the Mountain at WV State Culture Center. Free tickets available now, click here. Read why Wilma Steele, pictured below, is inviting you to come see Blood on the Mountain.

Sept. 12: 11 a.m. OVEC, Catholic Committee of Appalachia and the WV Chapter of the Sierra Club invite you to join the Appalachian part of an international event, The Ground Beneath Our Hearts, at Kanawha State Forest. Participants are asked to bring two items from the ground close to their hearts.

Learn more here. We sure hope to see you in the Forest! Also see: Paul Epstein: Innovate, don’t evacuate, coalfields.

Even now, before the event, The Ground Beneath Our Hearts want to help tell your story around the world. You’re invited to submit photos, video and text. Learn how here.

Sept. 14: 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. Huntington Chapter of the WV Citizens Climate Lobby meets at the Cabell County Public Library, in Meeting Room #1.

Sept. 14-15: Our Children Our Future’s Annual Policy Summit. OVEC members and supporters are strongly encouraged to attend and participate.

Sept. 17: 5 – 9 p.m. Stream Protection Rule Draft Environmental Impact Statement Hearing at the Charleston Civic Center, 200 Civic Center Dr., Charleston, WV. All hands on deck!  

Read this note from OVEC organizer Dustin White on why we really need you to attend a hearing or submit a written comment.

If you plan to speak at the hearing, we suggest arriving 30 minutes to an hour early in order to get your name on the speakers list.

Learn more here. Check our blog for updates, including talking points. Also, please check the iLoveMountains website, and help spread the word.

Sept. 18 – 20: Catholic Committee of Appalachia’s Annual Gathering, this year addressing WATER: The Practical, Political and Spiritual Implications. More information here. Deadline to register is September 10.

Find more events on our online calendar here. Be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for updates. If you have an event that you’d like us to consider for publication, e-mail the details to vivian@ohvec.org.

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Attn: Wayne Co & H’ton Folks: Help New Community Solar Project
For decades, OVEC has fought to reduce pollution and to advance the transition to clean energy here in West Virginia. Now, we’re excited to invite you to be part of a new community solar project coming to Southern West Virginia.

We’ve been partnering with a wonderful local job training and affordable housing non-profit, Coalfield Development Corporation, that now can go solar with your help — repowering their headquarters in Wayne with clean renewable energy, while building the solar workforce we need for the 21st Century here in West Virginia.

Coalfield Development is partnering with our friends at Solar Holler, a WV social enterprise, to bring Solar Holler’s nationally-recognized solar crowdfunding program to Wayne and Cabell Counties. Their first project in the area will be an 18 panel solar system on Coalfield Development’s headquarters in Wayne that will save more than $20,000 over the life of the panels!

The best part? All you need is an electric water heater and an internet connection to help Coalfield Development go solar. They need your support, not your money!

Sign up to help Coalfield Development go solar by filling out the easy form at the bottom of the page at this link.

By joining a virtual power plant of water heaters — with no cost — you can not only reduce pollution and blackouts on the power grid, but earn $100 per water heater per year to pay for this community supported solar installation. That rebate will pay off Coalfield’s new solar system and fund Solar Holler’s revolving fund that is bringing solar within reach of non-profits and community groups across West Virginia.

If you live in Cabell or Wayne County, we hope you’ll head over to Solar Holler to learn more and join the effort to create the clean energy transition here in our homeplace.

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