Ashley Judd's Call to Action to End Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

[EarlG]

I recently received this item from the Sierra Club. -- EarlG

-------------------------------------------------

Watch: Ashley Judd's Call to Action to End Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

By Bruce Nilles and Mary Anne Hitt

Just a few weeks ago we discussed a http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/2/13/172010/409/418/697238">controversial court decision that could unleash a new wave of mountaintop removal coal mining permits. Now, it’s time for you to take action, and film star Ashley Judd has joined us in sending out the call for help far and wide.

In the past 24 hours, almost 30,000 people have answered that call, asking the Obama Administration to step in and protect the mountains, streams and people of Appalachia.

On the special http://action.sierraclub.org/mountaintop">web site you can ask the White House Council on Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to freeze the permitting of any new mines. Action-takers can also request that the EPA provide long-term protection for the waterways and communities of Appalachia by initiating a rulemaking process to prevent the use of mining waste as fill material.

In the wake of the devastating February court decision, Ashley Judd teamed up with the Sierra Club to step up the campaign to end mountaintop removal coal mining. With a new personal letter, video and this online "take-action," Ashley Judd is asking the Obama Administration to prevent the issue of new permits to bury streams, and to end mountaintop removal once and for all.

Judd grew up in Eastern Kentucky and is like so many other Appalachia residents: tired of seeing such a beautiful place destroyed for coal.

"Our mountains are our heritage and our legacy to future generations," she said. "But big coal companies are using explosives to literally blow the tops off the mountains, extract the coal and destroy Appalachia."

Judd is joining us for this online campaign, which also includes a powerful video featuring her speech at a rally organized by our friends at http://www.kftc.org">Kentuckians For The Commonwealth and scenes of mountaintop removal coal mining. The campaign web site also includes http://action.sierraclub.org/mountaintop">pictures, fact sheets and a link to contact the Obama Administration.

EPA estimates that, to date, close to 2,000 miles of streams have been contaminated or destroyed by mountaintop removal, and communities throughout the Appalachian region suffer daily from contaminated drinking water, increased flooding, and a decimated landscape.

In the video, Judd uses the word "trauma" to describe her experience seeing firsthand the annihilation of Appalachian communities where mountaintops have been blasted off and the waste dumped into rivers and valleys. The Sierra Club – the nation's oldest, largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization – has been working with communities on the ground in Appalachia to end this destructive practice.

http://action.sierraclub.org/mountaintop">Won't you help us?

[fascisthunter]

1. BIG Kick for Appalachia and its Residents!!!

[jody]

2. What qualifies Ashley Judd as an expert or even informed person on this topic? n/t

[tex-wyo-dem]

4. Altough Ashley was born in California...

her mother Naomi was born and lived in Ashland, Kentucky before moving to Cali. Ashland is located on the border with West Virginia in the Appalachians, which is probably why she feels and affinity on this subject.

Aside from that, Ashley recently became involved in environmental activism with the Defenders of Wildlife advertisement lambasting Palin for aerial wolf hunting. She has been involved with other activist activities, as has her mother and sister Wynonna.

[jody]

5. Thanks for the info but what is the answer to my question. n/t

[tex-wyo-dem]

9. You're welcome...

but what other information do you need? She's a celebrity who feels passionate about bringing attention to a very destructive mining practice. I don't think a spokesperson necessarily needs to be an "expert" on any given subject, especially one that is obviously extremely destructive to the environment and the people living in the area.

[jody]

10. So her qualification is she's a celebrity. Perhaps she's also qualified for brain surgery! ROFL n/t

[sharp_stick]

12. Asking coal companies

to not top mountains in order to fuck up the environment of the people of WVa isn't brain surgery, nor does it require a degree just a brain.

[jody]

13. Agree but do you have an answer to my question? n/t

[sharp_stick]

20. Sure I'll give it a shot

She is qualified to speak because of an interest in the practice of mountaintopping. Now I'll ask you. Do you think there is a reason she is not qualified? Are you qualified in some way that she is not?

[jody]

22. Say what, "interest in the practice of mountaintopping"! I have an interest in time travel so by

your logic I'm qualified to speak out on time travel. Really ROFLMAO

[sharp_stick]

24. Thanks for not answering

don't know your interest in maintaining this thread, kind of sounds pharmaceutical in nature though. Time to go do something more interesting.

[jody]

26. Your post makes sense to me, retreat is always preferable to losing any battle. n/t

[Uncle Joe]

48. You are qualified to speak out on time travel or any other subject under the sun because of this.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Now you can choose to use that power to speak out on issues of which you feel aggrieved by or you can pass up on it and trust the "qualified" ones to do it for you. However living in the United States you have the choice, and the right to do either.

For whatever it's worth some "qualified" physicists of the day thought *Albert Einstein's opinions didn't matter so much, in large measure because he was only a patent clerk and probably not "qualified" to speak out on physics; including time travel.



*This is in no measure stating you need to be "qualified" to speak out on an issue of your concern, just an example of the folly created by placing more emphasis on the messenger than the message.

[jody]

51. So "right to speak" and "qualified to speak" are synonymous? ROFL n/t

[Uncle Joe]

54. In regards to speaking about grievances, absolutely.

Who is more qualified to testify as to Ashley Judd's feeling of grievance than Ashley Judd?

[jody]

55. So I was right in saying Judd can express her opinion which has the same value as other opinions.

Have a nice day.

[Uncle Joe]

57. Yes, but you were wrong in slamming the messenger instead of the message.

Have a nice day.

[tex-wyo-dem]

15. So...

how the hell do you equate mountaintop removal mining with brain surgery? Terrible analogy...hell, even I could be a spokesperson against this practice since it's as plain as the smirk on chimp's face that it's destroying the environment in that area or the world. All you have to do is a little research...it's called using the google.

[jody]

19. I'm very familiar with the issue in the OP but thanks for the advice anyway. n/t

[Time for change]

35. I don't know all her qualifications, but one is that she's an American citizen

We all have the right to speak out on topics that concern us.

If the fact that she's a celebrity means that her opinions get more attention than other peoples' opinions, that is perhaps unfortunate, but I certainly don't blame her for that. She has the same first amendment rights that we all do.

[jody]

38. I see we agree her opinion is no more or less valuable than that of any other citizen. n/t

[Time for change]

40. Not necessarily. I just said that I'm not familiar with whatever other qualifications she may have.

Some on this thread have pointed out other qualifications.

[Blue Fire]

46. Just what the hell is your point??

Why does somebody have to be an "expert" (according to you) to stand in opposition to such environmental devastation and the resulting effects on the Appalachian communities and citizens? I suggest you do a little research on mountain top removal coal mining before you post such glib idiocy.

[jody]

52. You have a nice day also. n/t

[Cha]

66. Are you always this

dense?

[hadrons]

67. She, maybe an informed citizen

I don't recall reading where she did state she's an expert

[tech3149]

23. How about she's a human-freakin being!

What fucking qualifies any of us to care about the world we live in? Are you really that effing stupid and callous?

Whatever!

[jody]

25. "stupid and callous?" No, perhaps you have me confused with yourself. n/t

[HillbillyBob]

7. Go to WV, Ky, or TN and LOOK at where the mountains used to be.

I grew up there, your land, land that has been in your family for generations can be taken away because the state sold the mineral rights out from under it.
After they clear cut the forest that is habitat and CO2 capture by the by, the mountain is blown up. They use so much dynamite that it is cracking the aquifers and letting coal by products such as sulphur, and other goodies contained in raw coal leach into the water tables, which are also the head waters of several rivers that those of us in neighboring states depend on for farming and drinking water.
I have relatives that tell me that their water, on land that they have lived on for about 5 generations is no longer usable. It tastes foul and it is poisoned, they cannot farm for the coal dust choking out the light and the pores on the plants.
So unless you live there you have no right to question those of us you do or have lived there.
Ashley Judd lived there growing up too, her whole child hood was not in Ca and she lives there now. Does one have to have an PHD or other degree in geology to understand that blowing up mountain chains and pushing the spoil into streams is bad or that using several tons of explosive in/near the bedrock will crack the foundation rock that shields the aquifer, or that those same streambeds are part of the hatcheries of fish that live farther down stream or that coal dust in those same streams will poison fish and wildlife and humans that depend on it for drinking water or irrigation for crops?

[jody]

8. Interesting but do you have an answer to my question? n/t

[Blue Fire]

56. A familiar tactic........

by right wingers. Diversion and circular arguments is their modus operandi to disrupt threads. And that's exactly what you're doing. You're no progressive. You smell like a lurking freeper.

[jody]

59. So you can't answer my question and resort to ad hominem attacks. Have a good day and goodbye. n/t

[Blue Fire]

60. Your question isn't intended to add anything substantial....

... and in itself is unworthy of response. It's a deflective tactic. Ashley Judd opposes mountain top removal, and you seem to think she needs a degree in the subject to engage her 1st Amendment rights and speak out against something that's wrong. Your tactics are in lock-step with other wingnuts and neocons whose only concern is disrupting a thread. Your whining about an ad hominem attack likewise is a typical wingnut/neocon knee-jerk response when they're challenged on their disingenuous crapola.
And thank you, I'm having a great day! I love unmasking freepazoids!

[X_Digger]

64. I grew up smack dab in coal country..

I'm almost ambivalent about the Land Reclamation Act of 1974 (that makes them put the mountain back after chopping the top off.)

Here's a satellite shot of the center of town- http://maps.google.com/maps?client=firefox-a&channel=s&hl=en&q=grundy,+va&ie=UTF8&split=0&gl=us&ei=ntO1Sd_PC8H7tgeZmNTACQ&ll=37.280336,-82.099457&spn=0.071845,0.141106&t=h&z=13&iwloc=addr

There is little flat land (most of it is flood plain that gets 'cleaned' of buildings once a generation.) There's very little possibility for economic development (and poverty there is crushing) because there's no flat land to build on. Dianne Sawyer recently did a series of spots for 20/20 on an area in Kentucky that's 45 minutes from here.

[sharp_stick]

11. Maybe she likes the mountains in West Virginia

hell, I like the mountains in West Virginia and the coal companies keep trying to tear them apart. Other than a desire to see coal companies actually do a little work rather than fuck up the environment more than they all ready do what qualifications does she need.

[jody]

16. I also like the mountains of WV over which I have hiked and spent many nights camping. My question

is still unanswered. n/t

[tex-wyo-dem]

18. what qualifications do you think she should have? (n/t)

[jody]

21. On scientific issues, something more than mere celebrity status. n/t

[tex-wyo-dem]

27. Not sure what grasp of the science behind the given subject she has...

but I certainly don't think she needs to be an "expert". In my opinion, as long as she is able to bring attention to the issue and is able to communicate the overall subject with some detail is really all that's necessary. If people want to gain greater understanding of the science behind this issue, they should seek out experts' opinions. The whole point is gaining exposure.

I'm sure Robert Redford was not an expert in all of the issues involved with oil and gas exploration in eastern Utah, but he successfully brought attention to the subject, which resulted in successfully saving the area from development.

P.S. sorry, didn't mean to get snippy earlier :)

[jody]

28. OK IMO the consensus is Judd is a celebrity and no more qualified to speak out on the issue than

thousands of other concerned citizens.

My concern on issues that should be based primarily on scientific evidence is too many people treat celebrities as scientific experts when in fact they are often no better informed than any layperson on the topic.

[tex-wyo-dem]

29. I'll agree with you that celebrities that stick their neck out on any given issue...

sometimes get called out by the media when they attempt to answer questions about specifics that they shouldn't be attempting to answer - this can result in hurting more than helping the cause. Once again, they should defer such questions to the experts rather than attempting to "wing it."

[jody]

30. Thanks for the exchange and have a wonderful evening. n/t

[bananas]

34. This isn't a scientific issue.

Her credentials are more than sufficient for her to speak out on this:

[jody]

39. We disagree, IMO it's a scientific issue and you say it's not. Perhaps it's a supernatural issue? nt

[bananas]

41. It's an economic issue, a social justice issue, a conservation issue, etc, etc

We know how long it takes mountains to form,
and we know how much explosives are needed to blow them up,
there isn't any scientific controversy over this.

[EarlG]

14. I don't know if she's qualified or not

:shrug:

The Sierra Club are the experts. She's lending her voice as a celebrity in order to gain publicity for their cause.

[jody]

17. I've been acting to save the environment for several decades and a Sierra Club mbr. almost as long.

I long ago recognized that celebrities are not necessarily qualified as experts on any scientific subject although they can build an audience that may listen to experts present the pros and cons of complex issues.

[liam_laddie]

36. Jody, haven't you just answered your own question?

Because Judd CAN generate an audience; she can focus attention on an issue. Has she in truth accomplished measurably more in an hour than your years as a Sierra Club member? Only you can answer that one. She happens to be a well-regarded U. of Kentucky graduate and has taken serious interest in many Kentucky issues, including, IIRC, speaking out against Mitch and that other KY idjit Senator, Bunning.
So she may not have a PhD in Earth Sciences; big deal, she speaks the truth. Just what IS your problem with celebraties? BTW, I am also a Sierra Club member, which in no way qualifies me to comment on countless topics...:shrug:

[jody]

37. No, she may speak her opinion but that does not mean "she speaks the truth". Those who worship

celebrities have their opinions and I have mine.

[liam_laddie]

44. Hyperbole...

doesn't enhance the dialogue. How you jump from my saying she has influence to "worshiping" is beyond my understanding. You seem angry. Frankly, I believe Ashley Judd could hold her own in any discussion about the mining industry, especially in KY.
-30-

[jody]

50. Thanks for your post, I needed a real good laugh today. n/t

[Tansy_Gold]

43. Qualifications

I saw nothing in the OP that claims Ashley Judd is an "expert" on any topic at all. The first part of your question is therefore irrelevant and immaterial, unless of course your only purpose in asking it is to start a flame war, which you obviously have done quite successfully.

As to the second part of your question, ANYONE can be an informed person. I know of no preconditions that "qualify" a person to be informed. If Ms. Judd has personal experience of the beauty of the area and has an emotional response to what she perceives as destruction of that beauty, then she is an "informed" person. Experience and emotion inform her response; by definition, then, she is "informed."

In order to be a spokesperson for an issue, one needs only be able to speak. To be an effective spokesperson, one needs a little bit more. Ms. Judd's celebrity -- and she's no celebrity to me because I don't know what she did to earn it, nor would I know her if she stepped on my foot, though I do recognize her name -- enables her to attract attention. If Lydia Messerschmidt's name were attached to this campaign or Helene Mueller or Gertrude Stryker or Frieda Yeagey, how many people would pay attention? I imagine very few, even though these women might all be experts on coal mining, Appalachian culture, mountain hydrology, or any other related field. Ms. Judd's celebrity, therefore, brings attention to the issue.

As someone who has experience in the public eye, Ms. Judd is probably also better able to present a message. Even if that message is scripted by someone else and merely read by her even off a Teleprompter, she is likely to present that message more effectively than one of the aforementioned (and virtually fictitious) experts. I'm sure you've seen many experts who are interviewed on news programs who stutter and stammer or stray off the topic so that it's difficult to connect the end of their sentence to what they started to say. The listener/viewer gets lost in the uhs and ums and garbled repetitions and never really "gets" the message.

Third, Ms. Judd may have a personal commitment to this issue that lends an emotional intensity to her presentation that mere cold facts can't do. Perhaps she feels she owes some of her success to her roots in this community and feels that her participation in this campaign is her way of paying something back in a way that mere money can't do. If her connection, either by birth or affinity, to the people, the culture, and the place aren't enough to qualify her to be a spokesperson -- not an expert, since expertise was never part of her claim -- then I suggest we start presenting our own credentials before we're allowed to speak out on anything. You can be first, Jody.


Rarely first, but seldom last either, and eminently qualified,

Tansy Gold

[liam_laddie]

45. Bravo, Tansy !! n/t

[jody]

53. You have a nice day also. n/t

[tabasco]

58. Do you need to be an expert to love mountains?

Stupid, douchebag quesion.

[Cha]

65. Duh..anyone can

be an activist on something they care about.

[HillbillyBob]

3. I have signed, I have written, even made a few calls

Im a bit hard of hearing and tend to stutter some times when speaking to those in 'authority'.
I have seen strip mining and clear cutting of forests from my childhood in WV.

[tex-wyo-dem]

6. k&r

Signed and donated...

Pround Sierra Club member!

[rasputin1952]

31. K&R...as a member of the Sierra Club, I support the effort...

As a member of the human race and wanting to preserve our planet...well, that just makes it just that more important! :kick:

[proReality]

32. K&R

Once you've seen what this mining does you can't possibly ignore the devastation.

[quidam56]

33. Bush/Cheney are TOXIC TERRORISTS to Appalachia

We are being bombed, blasted and bulldozed right into 3rd world America. http://www.wisecountyissues.com We can't stand anymore of THE NEW AND IMPROVED CLEAN HYBRID COAL INDUSTRIES progress and prosperity.

[Tex-Slim]

62. NEWSFLASH

Bush/Cheney are out of office. Obama is busy reversing much of what they did. Thought you'd like to know...

And so, go here,

http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/factsheet_energy_speech_080308.pdf

and read:

Develop and Deploy Clean Coal Technology. Carbon capture and storage technologies hold enormous potential to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions as we power our economy with domestically produced and secure energy. As a U.S. Senator, Obama has worked tirelessly to ensure that clean coal technology becomes commercialized. An Obama administration will provide incentives to accelerate private sector investment in commercial scale zero‐carbon coal facilities. In order to maximize the speed with which we advance this critical technology, Barack Obama and Joe Biden will instruct DOE to enter into public private partnerships to develop 5 “first‐of‐a‐kind” commercial scale coal‐fired plants with carbon capture and sequestration.


And if you watch the video of the speech here:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/newenergy

at about 11:50 you will hear Barack talk about doing some offshore drilling.

So, what was that you were saying? I mean, which team was it you were complaining about? Why?

[EFerrari]

42. Too late to rec.

:kick:

[Iwillnevergiveup]

47. Ashley Judd has every right

to speak out on this issue. As does Brad Pitt on devastation in New Orleans, as does Sean Penn on gay rights, as does George Clooney on Darfur as does Bono, Barbra Streisand, and Elton John on AIDS research as does Betty White on animal rights, as does Wilford Brimley on diabetes test kits.

[Lindsey]

49. I have much respect for celebrities who lend their voices on

issues they care deeply about. Audrey Hepburn regarding world hunger, George Clooney regarding Darfar, Brad Pitt and New Orleans, Sean Pean and Gay rights, the list goes on and on. I think Jody's looking for a fight.

[liam_laddie]

61. Precisely!

See post #2 - not one counterpoint offered. Or in any of that poster's other entries.

[Shireling]

63. This is an issue

I care deeply about. If someone famous can help to stop the destruction of this beautiful area of the country, I am behind them. Unfortunately, most people are still ignorant about environmental issues and will only listen to someone famous. Someone that they trust. So my hat is off to her.