Mountaintop Removal Mining is a coal-mining practice used commonly by Appalachian miners which not only destroys the surface of mountain tops but also the valleys below, and contaminates the waterways. Not good, people, not good.
A local West Virginian activist, 81-year-old Roland Micklem, is protesting the practice of Mountaintop Removal Mining by going on a hunger strike. He may be officially dubbed, the “Green Grandpa”.
Micklem’s activism is indeed brave and commendable and hopefully his fasting will make an impact. Last June “Green Grandpa” was arrested at a rally alongside NASA climate scientist James Hansen and actress Daryl Hannah, at Marsh Fork Elementary School which is located near a coal plant and at risk of being buried by billions of gallons of sludge, if a nearby earthen dam breaks.
In October “Green Grandpa” led a 25-mile Senior Citizen’s March to end Mountaintop Removal; and in September he helped to blockade the entrance to Massey Energy’s regional headquarters.
Currently he is holding a sign in front of West Virginia’s State Capital:
“I am fasting over the destruction of the mountains and the warped priorities of a society that allow it to continue. This is not a protest, but an act of mouning for the mountains and all of God’s Creation that has been abused to satisfy the selfish wants of humanity. My presence here will remind our public servants of their responsibility to help end this abuse.”