South Carolina Say NO!!

A letter forwarded by a friend was in my inbox this morning.  It was passed on to me because its about a topic that causes great emotional rise in me.  It should cause more of a rise in everybody! (the apathy is part of what gets my goat...or is it canary?)

Here is a bit of the letter (if you don't read it all AT LEAST read the bit I highlighted in red):

I was moved by the documentary shown Sunday at the Charleston Film Festival and on PBS about West Virginia and the effects of Mountaintop Coal Removal.

Bi-partisan legislation is being presented this week in South Carolina to ban its use in our state and I would like to invite you to lend your support to this bill.

 

What:  South Carolina legislators say “No” to Mountaintop Removal Coal

Where:  First floor lobby, State House building

When:  10 a.m., Thursday, April 30

 

Why: Mountaintop Removal Coal (MTR) is destroying one of the most beautiful and species-diverse places on the planet. It’s ruining a unique American

culture and killing its inhabitants. It is all happening very, very quickly, unchecked, here - not in China, not Darfur, not Afghanistan.

 

MTR methods release mercury and other chemicals through blasting into the air, “legally” dumping waste directly into streams and rivers, and through huge, open, unlined sludge ponds surrounding homes and schools, leaching poisons directly into the drinking water supplies. It is literally unchecked as the coal companies run the governor and the state environmental regulatory agencies. It is literally making the entire half of the state of West Virginia a toxic waste dump. There is nowhere for the people to run, they cannot afford to buy clean water, they are sick, they are dying and no one is looking out for them. We are complicit, especially as South Carolina is the destination of most of the MTR coal:

 

* South Carolina is the among the top ten users of MTR in the country.

            * 98% of the Coal burned in South Carolina is sourced from Central Appalachia.

            * 50% of the Coal burned in South Carolina is from MTR; approx. 8 million tons MTR consumed annually in SC alone.

            * Duke Energy & Progress Energy are among the top 5 corporate consumers of MTR coal in the country.    

            * Santee Cooper is 7th largest consumer of MTR, SCE &G is the 10th largest corporate consumer of MTR.

 

At our statehouse Thursday. Austin Hall, the young man from West Virginia who is so well-informed and spoke after the film “Burning the Future” will be accompanied by a group of the ordinary folks from Appalachia who are so affected. If you hear their stories you will never forget them. Please try to come and lend support to our brave legislators and these proud people.  For rides or other information please contact: John Ramsburgh, Sierra Club of South Carolina, 1314 Lincoln Street, Suite 211, Columbia, SC  29202, office: 803-256-8487;  cell: 803-743-6144. His press release follows. I respect your time and thank you for allowing me to share this matter with you.  

 

ANOTHER SOURCE FOR MORE INFORMATION: http://www.scsaysno.com/