Help End Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining
We continue our work educating other UU congregations and faith communities about mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR) this fall with hope that we can organize another site tour of MTR this fall with a trip to Wise County, Virginia, in lieu of our annual fall worship service. Last fall, we sponsored a Vigil for the People and Mountains of Appalachia. If you would like to work on this event or go on this site visit, please contact Sharon Baiocco, Green Sanctuary Chair at green@uucharlottesville.org.
Last year our sanctuary was decked in quilts, candles, and lanterns Oct. 17, when we hosted the 2nd annual Vigil for the People and Mountains of Appalachia featuring mountain leaders, music, and culture Oct. 17. The Green Sanctuary Task force organized the event as part of its eco-justice action project, “Go Tell it on the Mountain.”
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- Adelind Horan performs the character Larry Gibson
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- The Murphys and Friends perform
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- Jean Botts displays the Quilt
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- Candle-lighting for the Lost Mountains
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- Rev. Rose Edington, Environmental Activist
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- Charlottesville Women's Choir
The program commemorated the human and ecological devastation that results from mountaintop removal (MTR) mining, which powers Charlottesville. MTR has so far destroyed 500 Appalachian mountains and continues to pollute headwaters for our entire region.
Highlighting the event was a presentation by the Rev. Rose Edington, UU Congregation of Charleston, WV, who spoke on “Justice, Equity, and Compassion in the Mountains,” and a performance by actor-playwright Adelind Horan, who performed two characters from her play, “Cry of the Mountain.” To read Rev. Edington’s message, click here: justice_equity_and_compassion_in_the_mountains. (If you cannot view the entire pdf document, click on the third small icon on the bottom.) The Murphys and Friends, including the mother-daughter trio of Lorie Lichtenwalner and Molly and Sally Murphy, and fiddler Mike Williams, sang about the mountains, and the Charlottesville Women’s Choir concluded the program.
Especially for the event, Jean Botts and Margaret Gorman assembled a ”Why I Love Mountains” quilt made from RE children’s and members’ drawings and displayed it over the altar. The quilt will be on display later this month.
Sharon Baiocco, chair of the Green Sanctuary Task Force, said, “This event was intended to be uplifting and to spread the word about the devastating effects of MTR, particularly on our drinking water supply. We hope it will also engage other churches and organizations in the movement to outlaw the mining practice that blasts the peaks off mountains in order to extract coal, and dumps toxic sludge into streams and valleys.”.
