RAN’s Mike Brune arrested with Climate Scientist James Hansen in Effort to Stop Mountaintop Removal

By Josh Ran

Today RAN and our good friends from Appalachia along with renowned climate scientist Dr. James Hansen, actress Daryl Hannah and more than a dozen Appalachian residents and allies were arrested crossing onto the property of leading mountaintop removal coal mining company, Massey Energy. This was Dr Hansen’s first arrest in an act of civil disobedience and today he and others put their bodies on the line to protest Mountaintop Removal mining and the enormous human health, ecological and climate impacts that result from the practice.

Dr Hansen said: “I am not a politician; I am a scientist and a citizen,” said Dr. James Hansen. “Politicians may have to advocate for halfway measures if they choose. But it is our responsibility to make sure our representatives feel the full force of citizens who speak for what is right, not what is politically expedient. Mountaintop removal, providing only a small fraction of our energy, should be abolished.”

More photos and video to follow – stay tuned!