Anonymous,

Thousands of acres of wild forests, rolling hills and crashing mountain waterfalls may be under attack. The Trump administration is considering opening 75,000 acres of Tennessee's protected Cumberland Plateau to strip mining for coal.1

For me, this issue is deeply personal. The strip mining site would tear apart the mountains mere miles from my hometown in Tennessee, and threaten the wild, beautiful places I explored as a child.

Join us in letting Knoxville's Office of Surface Mining know we don't want this special place to be torn apart by strip mining.

I was born in the Cumberland Plateau. These mountains are the backdrop to all of my childhood memories. They're the place I went backpacking for the first time with my dad, the summer I turned seven. And they're a big part of the reason I became a clean energy advocate, so I can have the chance to do the same with my children.

The process of strip mining tears long ridges through the earth, ripping up plants, rock and soil to reach the coal beneath. Explosive strip mining along mountain ridges is often referred to as "mountaintop removal," a name that explains itself. This type of mining not only destroys habitats, but it can also threaten waterways used for drinking water and the public health of neighboring communities.2

Me and my dad on our first backpacking trip to the Cumberland Plateau.

I can't imagine this happening to the quiet forests where I hiked with my dad as a child.

Tell Knoxville's Office of Surface Mining to keep this wilderness protected from destructive mining practices.

Everyone feels a special connection to the wild places of their home, whether that be the blue hills of the Appalachians, the wide banks of the Great Lakes or the rolling desert of the Southwest.

The cost of powering our society shouldn't be our mountains -- or any of these special places -- especially when clean, renewable alternatives like wind and solar are growing every day.3

Make your voice heard by speaking out against strip mining in the Cumberland Plateau.

Thank you for working alongside us to protect these wild open spaces,

Graham Marema
Clean Energy Organizer

P.S. Our work to defend the environment can't stop and won't stop in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. We'll keep advocating on your behalf -- at a safe social distance -- for clean air, clean water, clean energy, wildlife and open spaces, and a livable climate.

1. James Bruggers, "Trump May Approve Strip Mining on Tennessee's Protected Cumberland Plateau," Inside Climate News, February 13, 2020.
2. Richard Schiffman, "A Troubling Look at the Human Toll of Mountaintop Removal Mining," Yale Environment 360, November 21, 2017.
3. "Renewables on the Rise," Environment Colorado Research & Policy Center, 2020.