Coal Miners, Environmentalists Bump Heads in West Virginia

Protesters marched on the Goals Coal preparation plant in Raleigh County, W. Va., on Tuesday.

The Charleston Gazette reports that they were met by several hundred miners and their families, who shouted at the protesters to "go home." 31 of the environmentalists were arrested, including a NASA climate scientist, actress Daryl Hannah, and 94-year-old former Rep. Ken Hechler.

The protesters were there to oppose the practice of mountain-top removal mining, in which the tops of ridges are blasted away to allow easy access to coal seams. The NASA climate scientist, James Hansen, says that the practice is worse than normal coal mining because it maximizes harm to the environment in addition to being bad for the climate.

According to The Associated Press, Hansen and the rest of the detained protesters were cited for impeding traffic and obstructing an officer. They were later released.

Gov. Joe Manchin refused to take sides in this conflict, saying that he hopes to find "a balance between economy and environment."

He and the Obama administration have been criticized for their failure to ban mountain-top removal mining. Elizabeth Kolbert of the New Yorker reports that although they have promised to regulate the practice more tightly, Hansen encourages environmentalists to make the government feel the pressure of those who "speak for what is right, not what is politically expedient."