Getting arrested to block dirty energy banks & pipelines by sitting in front of them

[limpyhobbler]

Last edited Sat Jun 1, 2013, 05:20 PM - Edit history (1)

I found all these items on the internet & really liked them so I wanted to share it here so more people could see...

Activists associated with Mountain Justice, Radical Action for Mountain Peoples' Survival (RAMPS), and Hands Off Appalachia! entered the Gay Street branch of UBS wealth management services and refused to leave. Inside the office, three activists locked themselves to a large paper mache puppet depicting an investment banker. The non-violent protest was in opposition to UBS' funding and supporting of the harmful extractive process known as mountaintop removal coal mining.

"Mountaintop removal coal mining requires intensive injections of capital investment. That capital comes at the cost of the people of Appalachia. I've engaged in this non-violent act of protest against UBS' funding of mountaintop removal to exhibit our dedication to ending their funding and support of an industry that is devastating Appalachia and killing it's residents." — Ricki Draper, Hands Off Appalachia! And Knoxville Resident

UBS provides funding and investment services to Patriot, Arch and James River Coal Companies. Those three companies, operate active strip mines in Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia.

"I'm sick and tired of seeing my home get blown up for corporate greed -- and UBS is bankrolling the blasting of my community. UBS, listen up: My family's not a profit margin, our mountains aren't collateral damage, and we want you out of here: Get your hands off of Appalachia," said West Virginia resident Junior Walk.

Taking a Stand This Summer -- From the Coal Fields, Shale Country, Pipeline Corridors, and Beyond
by Junior Walk

I was raised for most of my life not one mile from the face of the brushy fork coal sludge impoundment. Every single day I had to wake up with the thought of it breaking and killing myself and my family. With the constant reminders of coal trains and trucks speeding by just a few dozen feet from my front porch, I couldn't forget about it if I tried. The impoundment is the largest earthen dam in the western hemisphere, holding back over seven billion gallons of toxic liquid coal refuse. If that wasn't enough, they also pumped the same refuse into an old underground mine on the ridge above my home, leaving me and my family to deal with blood read water coming out of our taps for years.

So last week, when I and four of my friends blocked the road to Alpha Natural Resources' corporate headquarters in Bristol, Virginia, going to jail was the last thing on my mind.

We were locked into a concrete barrel that weighed well over eight-hundred pounds and a water tank full of water that was tinted to look like the toxic coal sludge that I live with everyday. We blocked the road for a solid two and a half hours, and we also learned later that the CEO of Alpha, as well as other top executives were stuck in the traffic jam trying to get into the building. (which I take an immense amount of pride in, considering I was in a string of failed face to face meetings with them about a year and a half ago.)

The five of us are facing possible jail time and/or fines when all of the court stuff is said and done. For me though, it's a small price to pay to take the fight from my home to Alpha's home. To bring the fear and reality of poisoned water from my doorstep in the Coal River Valley to the doorstep of the people who are most directly responsible for it.
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more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/junior-walk/coal-protests_b_3368633.html

[roomtomove]

1. My wholeheatearted support

to you and everyone who stuggles against corporate greed at the expense of us all, and of course our earth.

[olddots]

2. these protesters are not crazy

we who don't protest are crazy and the protesters are some of life's heroes .

[TRoN33]

3. If I could...

I would be there with you to sit on the middle of the road and I sure as hell will invoke my constitutional right to protest against the corporate greed!

[limpyhobbler]

4. These folks are very brave to be doing this.

Maybe someday I will run into them and let them know how much I appreciate what they did there.