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ilovemountains
N2Y3 Con: iLoveMountains.org: Maps, Mashups, and Organizing!
Mountains are being blown up to get to seams of coal that exist in the tops of mountains. It is cheaper to blow up the mountain, rather than to tunnel through the mountain, or they blow them up because they can't tunnel through. Half of the United States' energy comes from burning coal. Between 7-10% of US electricity comes from coal mined in the Appalachian mountains using mountain-top removal. Some mine sites can be 10,000 acres. Because of mechanization, surface mining doesn't create jobs.
Originally, Appalacian Voices spread the word with piecemeal online information, earned media coverage, and face-to-face organizing by local and regional organizations.
The problem was:
* It is hard to convey the scale of mining, unless you are in a plane. (Southwings will give you a free flight to view the mountaintop removal).
* National face-to-face organizing costs a lot.
* It was missing an online organizing presence
* National legislation needs a national network.
They created iLoveMountains.org, an online resource center and action center, and launched it during Mountaintop Removal Week in Washington D.C. in 2006. They started out with audio and video stories from communities that have been affected by mining, and a map of 470 mountains affected by mountaintop removal.
ILoveMountains Maps Their Activist Meme
I'm at this morning's ilovemountains talk, which I've awaited ever since blogging about it as a brilliant online campaign. They just released a new map feature showing where and how their online campaign has spread.
Interesting Tidbits:
- Willie Nelson agreed to give them rights to use "Blowin in the Wind" after they passed a request to his bodyguard.
- They've superimposed the Transamerica building and the Golden Gate Bridge next to some of the removed mountaintops to show the scale of devastation.
