A grass roots environmental victory with Mountaintop Removal

Here is another environmental story which is one of local tragedy where people organized across the country and used this type of new media to stop it. Folks began to blog, put out YouTube videos, and challenge the large energy corporations. It appears that the grass roots community efforts are starting to show some amount of success.  The issue is mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia. The following YouTube video was viewed about 150,000 times and helped get the word out:


Here is another example of grass roots media at work directed this time at Chase Bank - a major financial backer of this kind of mining.



And a victory is achieved as T. Thorn Coyle reports in her Pagan blog:

"...Today, I bring to all of us the Good News of Reverend Billy Talen, the Rainforest Action Network, Alliance for Appalachia, and everyone else who worked on behalf of the sacred, ancient, mountain range:

Chase Bank will no longer underwrite Massey Corporation to fund mountaintop removal. This is a major victory for all who have worked to stop this hideous desecration in order to extract a major pollutant. This is a triumph over greed and ignorance. This is a raising up of the possibility of beauty. As Reverend Billy himself says, “Earth-a-lujah!”  ...(Cont.)...
More on Mountaintop removal:
Mountain Top Removal documentary trailer
Mountaintop Removal pt. 1 of 2
Mountaintop Removal part 2 of 2
Assignment Earth: Appalachian
Mountain Top Removal
Mountain Top Removal: What do you stand to lose?
The West Virginia Hills
Toxic West Virginia: Mountaintop Removal
Al Gore Mountaintop Removal
Emmylou Harris & Mary Black -"Green Rollin' Hills of West Virginia