Protesters outside the coal-funded ARIES “research” conference, April 15, 2013
From Radical Action for Mountain People’s Survival (RAMPS):
Charleston, W.Va. — Today two protesters disrupted the first symposium held by the Appalachian Research Initiative in Environmental Science (ARIES), a coal industry funded research consortium. Joe Solomon and David Baghdadi marched into the opening session of the “Environmental Considerations in Energy Production” Symposium, locked themselves together, and started chanting “Coal kills, science lies.” They also played recordings of the late Judy Bonds and Larry Gibson, long-time leaders in the fight against strip-mining. The plenary panel included the top state mining regulators from West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky, including WV Dept. of Environmental Protection. Joe and David said they would unlocked if even one West Virginia citizen was allowed to speak on the panel. Symposium organizers chose instead to clear the room, call the Charleston Police and have the two arrested. More protesters outside the symposium sought to highlight the questionable nature of research produced with coal industry money.
Read the full press release here.