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Mike Alilionis
Mike is the Mountaintop Removal Campaign Assistant working out of Washington, DC. He loves vegan cooking, playing drumset, and zombies. He dislikes coal.
In our fight to end mountaintop removal, Appalachian Voices staff work day-in and day-out to make progress on legislation that would stop the destruction of Appalachia. A keystone of our legislative work is our office in the belly of the beast, right here in Washington, DC.
With some great accomplishments made in the last year and a lot of time spent wandering through the halls of Congress, we’ve decided that we’re due for a celebration!
This past weekend, activists gathered on Kayford Mountain in West Virginia – home of Larry Gibson, keeper of the mountains. Larry, as well as activists from Mountain Justice and Climate Ground Zero hosted the Mountain Justice Fall Summit – a weekend of education, training, and momentum building to end mountaintop removal.
Activists plant trees on reclamation site while others hold banner reading "Reclmation FAIL." (Credit: Climate Ground Zero)
Coming in the wake of Appalachia Rising – a mass mobilization in Washington, DC attended by thousands – the Mountain Justice Fall Summit aimed to continue to push the momentum of the movement. On Sunday, dozens took part in a beautiful and symbolic non-violent direct action, trespassing on a Patriot Coal Company “reclamation” site in order to plant trees.
