I live in West Virginia, where our governor is bent on fracking. He and the legislature are paid off by the OG industry, even as it continues to ravage our beautiful landscape. Remember, WV is also the land of coal mine explosions and mountaintop removal. I am part of a small group of concerned citizens trying to stop the progress of this industry, but our best efforts are a drop in the bucket compared with the massive amount of money the industry has to spend on buying politicians and PR campaigns. Almost every day I hear something new on the radio from the Industry trying to make people feel good about fracking, and it’s working. Historically poor, West Virginians will do almost anything (and I mean that in the meanest sense) for jobs.

What can we do to alert people to the alternatives besides what we’re already doing to stop the death march? Writing letters to the editor, organizing, and using social media may make me feel good, but it feels like another case of David and Goliath…except this little David is getting beat hard!

Thank you for what you are doing. Keep the faith!

-april keating
Buckhannon, WV

I doubt that landfill and feedlot gas will be a large part of our energy input but every bit helps and it keeps methane out of our atmosphere plus can potentially cause a bit of natural gas to be left in the ground.

I think the thing you might really want to check into in WV is geothermal. A recent study found that WV has tremendous potential to produce electricity from geothermal and sell it on to other states. That could be a big income replacer for coal.

Probably what the average person can do to help move us forward is to educate as many others as possible about our options. Many people don’t know that we have options to burning fossil fuel and, overall, they will provide us with cheaper electricity.

I live in West Virginia, where our governor is bent on fracking. He and the legislature are paid off by the OG industry, even as it continues to ravage our beautiful landscape. Remember, WV is also the land of coal mine explosions and mountaintop removal. I am part of a small group of concerned citizens trying to stop the progress of this industry, but our best efforts are a drop in the bucket compared with the massive amount of money the industry has to spend on buying politicians and PR campaigns. Almost every day I hear something new on the radio from the Industry trying to make people feel good about fracking, and it’s working. Historically poor, West Virginians will do almost anything (and I mean that in the meanest sense) for jobs.

What can we do to alert people to the alternatives besides what we’re already doing to stop the death march? Writing letters to the editor, organizing, and using social media may make me feel good, but it feels like another case of David and Goliath…except this little David is getting beat hard!

Thank you for what you are doing. Keep the faith!

-april keating
Buckhannon, WV

I live in West Virginia, where our governor is bent on fracking. He and the legislature are paid off by the OG industry, even as it continues to ravage our beautiful landscape. Remember, WV is also the land of coal mine explosions and mountaintop removal. I am part of a small group of concerned citizens trying to stop the progress of this industry, but our best efforts are a drop in the bucket compared with the massive amount of money the industry has to spend on buying politicians and PR campaigns. Almost every day I hear something new on the radio from the Industry trying to make people feel good about fracking, and it’s working. Historically poor, West Virginians will do almost anything (and I mean that in the meanest sense) for jobs.

What can we do to alert people to the alternatives besides what we’re already doing to stop the death march? Writing letters to the editor, organizing, and using social media may make me feel good, but it feels like another case of David and Goliath…except this little David is getting beat hard!

Thank you for what you are doing. Keep the faith!

-april keating
Buckhannon, WV

I live in West Virginia, where our governor is bent on fracking. He and the legislature are paid off by the OG industry, even as it continues to ravage our beautiful landscape. Remember, WV is also the land of coal mine explosions and mountaintop removal. I am part of a small group of concerned citizens trying to stop the progress of this industry, but our best efforts are a drop in the bucket compared with the massive amount of money the industry has to spend on buying politicians and PR campaigns. Almost every day I hear something new on the radio from the Industry trying to make people feel good about fracking, and it’s working. Historically poor, West Virginians will do almost anything (and I mean that in the meanest sense) for jobs.

What can we do to alert people to the alternatives besides what we’re already doing to stop the death march? Writing letters to the editor, organizing, and using social media may make me feel good, but it feels like another case of David and Goliath…except this little David is getting beat hard!

Thank you for what you are doing. Keep the faith!

-april keating
Buckhannon, WV