Alliance for Energy Awareness (AFEA) is teaming up with New Horizons and the LC Bonner Leaders to take 16 students to Wise County to see the destructive results of Mountain Top Removal February 7-8.
The group will take a beginners hike, visit a reclaimed Mountain Top Removal site, a coal-loading dock, and the Dominion Coal Power Plant.
Mountain Top Removal is dramatically affecting communities located near coal mining factories. Both human and environmental health is being compromised in order to provide Virginia residents with cheap energy that is often being wasted through over- and irresponsible consumption.
Alliance for Energy Awareness is a student-led organization that strives for environmental justice on campus, within Lynchburg, and across the nation through speaking with students and faculty, attending city council meetings, and lobbying Congress.
Other upcoming AFEA events include:
Wise County Open Forum and Movie: Sludge
February 11, 8 p.m., Burton Dining Room
Stemming from the Wise County Hiking Trip, AFEA is having a ‘Welcome Home' party with pizza and a movie. The party will begin with an open forum about the Wise County experience and reactions to the trip. The movie Sludge will be shown, which documents the Oct. 11, 2000 Martin County coal waste spill, which emptied 306 gallons of sludge into two tributaries in Kentucky, resulting in a spill 30 times larger than the Exxon Valdez. This movie shows the most devastating aspects of MTR and what's not being done about it.
Power Shift Conference 2009, Lobby Day and Rally: February 27 - March 2
January 29: 6 p.m., Hopwood 14- Information and Group Registration Meeting
An estimated 10,000 youth from across the nation are coming together at the D.C. Convention center to discuss pressing environmental issues, learn lobbying tactics, and demand that the new administration take serious action in preserving our nation's future through environmental policies. Last year 25 LC students attended the Power Shift '08 Conference, coming back more knowledgeable on both environmental and political affairs, while having one of the best college experiences ever.
This year AFEA wants to take at least 50 LC students to Power Shift '09 to join in on the experience. The speakers from last year ranged from political figures such as the Independent Ralph Nader and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, to environmental activists such as Van Jones and Mike Tidwell. This year's line-up has yet to be confirmed, but more up-to-date information can be found on www.powershift09.org .
For more information, contact AFEA President Angela Massino at massino_s@lynchburg.edu.