Change The Current: Vote
Early voting is underway in West Virginia. Yeah, it can feel like: Why bother? Don’t succumb to apathy! Remember, there’s power in numbers, so your vote can make a difference, especially on local issues. Consider the history of the fight for the right to vote and all the voter disenfranchisement efforts still underway nationwide  — some people are really hoping you won’t vote, therefore your vote must really mean something. Exercise your right to vote!

Find your early voting location here. Find a sample ballot here. Find your Election Day polling place here.

Because we all need clean, safe water, OVEC has been partnering with WV FREE and other groups on the Change the Current campaign to get out the vote (GOTV). You can join in. Print this flier and take a selfie with it to post to social media sites with the hashtag #changethecurrent. Find more ideas and materials here.

You can also join us for GOTV canvassing in Charleston at 1 p.m. on Sunday, November 2. Reply to this e-mail for details.

Of course, voting alone isn’t enough. As they saying goes, the world is run by those who show up. You gotta stay engaged, as the passage of the “water bill” and Sludge Safety Project successes illustrate. When we show up and speak out, we have seen that legislators do still listen to We, the People. So, show up. Vote. Stay tuned. Change the Current.

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Beyond Extreme Energy: People Taking Action to Retire Fossil Fuels, Nov. 1 – 7 in Washington, D.C.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issues permits for pipelines, compressor stations and export terminals. That means more deep shale extraction activities in our communities, which means more contaminated well water, more tainted streams, more sickening air emissions, more plummeting property values, more low-level radioactive waste in landfills…

Even as communities across the nation have risen up to fight pipelines, gas storage under lakes, compressor stations and fracked-gas export plants in our backyards, FERC has remained unmoved, unresponsive and unaccountable. FERC has answered only to the fossil fuel industry, rubber-stamping almost every project.

In the face of increasing threats to our health, communities, democracy, property values, environment and climate, people from across the nation will gather in Washington, D.C. next week to stop FERC’s business-as-usual and to deliver a list of demands.

Nov. 1 – 7: Beyond Extreme Energy: People Taking Action to Retire Fossil Fuels

Join the Beyond Extreme Energy (BXE) action — sign up here. Click here for details on each day’s actions, as well as information on trainings, lodging, food and more. If you need a ride or can share a ride, check out this rideboard. (Signing into ridebuzz is quick and painless.) If you are coming to the action, get your story told (meme it!) with this BXE story submission form.

Even if you can’t come out, please support BXE on social media with the hashtags: #FERCdoesntwork, #Fracking. Also, please consider making a donation for this week of action. And, spread the word.

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What Is A Safe Water System? Let’s Make It Happen!
It’s been more than 9 months since the Freedom Industries coal-cleaning chemical leak, but meaningful changes still have not been made to improve our water system.  Our Central WV water utility is no better equipped to handle a chemical contamination event than it was on January 9.

Please join us for a community forum on November 6 to learn what needs to happen, and what we can do to take action for a safe water system:

What Is A Safe Water System? Let’s Make It Happen!
A panel discussion & community conversation on our water
Thursday, November 6
7 – 9 p.m. (doors open at 6:45)
University of Charleston, Erma Byrd Gallery (in Riggleman Hall)
The event is free. Register here.

Speakers include: Dr. Rahul Gupta (Kanawha-Charleston Health Department),
Fred Stottlemyer (former director of Putnam PSD), and other safe water experts.

Register today and join your neighbors on the evening of November 6 to hear experts explain what a safe water system might look like, and discuss among our community how we can achieve that goal.

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