Keep Your Foot Down: Contact the Governor
Thanks to everybody (around 200 of you!) who came out for The People’s Foot: No More MTR Permits, held on March 16 at DEP headquarters in Charleston.

Most of you probably read the news the next day: State announces review of studies linking mountaintop removal mining to illness

The groups involved in organizing The People’s Foot are urging you to call Governor Tomblin at 304-558-2000 or 888-438-2731. Tell him that if he’s serious about considering the health effects of mountaintop removal on the people of West Virginia, then the DEP should not issue any more mountaintop removal permits while the state review of the studies is underway.

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Pipe Up on the Proposed Pipelines
Update: April Keating reports that FERC has informed her that people can make comments to FERC up until the day a pipeline is approved. So, continue piping up! FERC is especially looking for comments during the EIS period, which is the time the agency is trying to identify problems. Pipe up!

Around the country, oil and gas corporations are asking FERC for permission to build massive methane-transporting pipelines. OVEC members and others were out in force for a couple of recent scoping meetings on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Read a little bit about why folks don’t want these types of massive pipelines in anybody’s backyard here and here, then be sure to make your own comments.

More pipelines will mean more fracking activity, meaning more of this, this and this. (Photos from OVEC’s recent staff tour of Frackistan, WV.) So please do comment, by these deadlines:

April 17: Deadline extended again: The U.S. Forest Service extended the comment period on whether portions of the Jefferson National Forest can be surveyed for a possible pipeline route. Details here. Loads of details to help you file comments here. To learn more visit www.mareproject.org.

April 28: Deadline to comment to FERC, which is taking public scoping comments on the proposed massive Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Supply Header Pipeline. Details on filing written comments, along with suggested topics to cover, are here.

If you care to ratchet up your actions to help hold FERC accountable for all the pipeline and other projects it rubber-stamps, then you may want to know about this:

May 21 – 29: Mass Action: Beyond Extreme Energy: We anticipate 500 to 1,000 or more people will gather in D.C. during part or all of May 21-29, 2015 to demand FERC fulfill its mission to make decisions based on what is best for the nation as a whole, not just what suits the fossil fuel industry.

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Matters of Faith: Come Out for Creation
April 18: At noon on Saturday, April 18, you are invited to join Cross in the Mountains, an ecumenical “stations of the cross” prayer service, to be held on Kayford Mountain. Folks will be praying for the renewal of human and ecological communities devastated by extractive industries. A potluck will follow at 1 p.m. The event is hosted by the Catholic Committee of Appalachia, the WV Council of Churches, Christians for the Mountains and OVEC.

April 19: 3 – 5 p.m. Join WV Interfaith Power and Light at at St. John XXIII Pastoral Center, Charleston, WV, to discuss climate issues and the hopeful work the church is called to undertake on behalf of God’s Creation. The mission of Interfaith Power and Light is to be faithful stewards of Creation by responding to global warming through the promotion of energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. This campaign intends to protect Earth’s ecosystems, safeguard the health of all Creation, and ensures sufficient, sustainable energy for all.

Admission is FREE but please bring a package of compact fluorescent light bulbs. Please “like” the WV Interfaith Power and Light Facebook page.

April 21 – 22: “Preserving Sacred Appalachia: Gathering, Acting, and Speaking in Unity” – Appalachian Preservation Project’s Earth Day Conference, at St. John XXIII Pastoral Center, Charleston, WV.

The Earth Day conference is being held based on the Core Assumptions and Key Challenges identified here.

Faith and creation. Conference purpose. Agenda. Costs. Registration form. Sponsor.

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The Ohio River Needs You
April 14: 4 – 7 p.m. Please attend or send written comments (deadline for written comments is May 14): ORSANCO will hold a public hearing  at the Holiday Inn Cincinnati Airport in Erlanger, KY.

The hearing will address: 1) proposed amendments to Pollution Control Standards for Discharges to the Ohio River 2013 Revision, and 2) the proposed FirstEnergy Corp., Pleasants Power Station, variance from Pollution Control Standards for Discharges to the Ohio River 2013 Revision, regarding their discharge of mercury into the Ohio River. More information and additional documents can be found at www.orsanco.org/pcs.

For talking points and more information, contact OVEC’s Robin Blakeman at robin@ohvec.org.

There’s much more going on in April and May, so be sure to check our online calendar for updates on upcoming events.

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