Fellow CCANers and I had an exciting morning last Thursday, as we planned to dump one ton of coal at the United States Capitol in the Lower Senate Park to protest the legislation on the Senate floor that would allow for 10 billion dollars in direct federal loans for coal to liquid development. FYI: Most of the Senators that support the bill hail from coal industry states.

Soon after the set-up began, the Capitol Police tried to disband the press conference by claiming the flammable qualities of coal could severely put the members of Congress in harms way…Mind you the suspicious package in Union Station that caused an entire building evacuation at the same time (right across the street) didn’t slow down any legislator that day.

The genius minds over at CCAN worked through the problem. Ted Glick, the event organizer, changed plans so that the coal would be placed in smaller buckets and still visible for the media…so that it wasn’t dangerously flammable anymore. Gordon Clark, another CCAN organizer, carefully shoveled the coal into each bucket as press crews fought to get that special shot or clip of the coal knocking around from shovel to bucket.

Then the Capitol Police had one more target–the tripods for the press cameras!! Anne Havemann, CCAN’s Communications Director, rallied numerous press outlets to attend the (what?!) press conference. A total of 5 major networks and several other print sources were on site to report the event. The demand to remove the tripods was either harassment or jealousy. Thankfully, the Capitol Police did not stop the cameras or the tripods, and everything went as planned.

After all the buckets were full and all activists were armed with anti-coal signs and t-shirts, the conference rolled through rather smoothly. Mike Tidwell, director of CCAN, addressed the media and explained the dangerous effects of coal-to-liquid development and offered that the more practical solution to energy independence should comprise of ethanol, wind, and solar energy. (Rocket science, right?) The following speakers included, Erich Pica of Friends of the Earth, Lenny Kohm of Appalachian Voices, Laurie Howell of Earth Day Network, Rev. Lennox Yearwood of Hip-Hop Caucus, and Shadia Wood of Energy Action Coalition. Each speaker conveyed the different aspects of the fight to combat global warming from the youth, faith, and conservation communities. Most importantly, Mike Tidwell ended with the comment that this issue cannot wait for another legislative term or the next election cycle because the damage to our earth will soon reach a point of no return.

The final part of the press conference required a little dirty work as each individual from all the organizations reached into a bucket and wiped his or her hands down with a large lump of coal. It only took a few seconds to get really dirty. We placed all of our hands together to give a more tangible picture of the dirtiness of coal. I also managed brush against a piece of coal and found a dark stain on my dress. Just brushing past that dirty piece of “energy” stained my hands and my clothes. Imagine living in the same neighborhood as a coal mine or excavating the stuff every single day. No, it’s high time to get as far away from coal as possible so that we can keep our hands and our lungs clean.

Read about the event–Hot off the Press!

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