The following email was sent to the 39,000+ supporters of iLoveMountains.org. To sign up to receive free email alerts, click here.

Dear Friend of the Mountains,

As the Associated Press recently observed, “environmental activists gained more momentum this year than in the past decade against the destructive, uniquely Appalachian form of strip mining known as mountaintop removal.”

That momentum has been the result of your efforts.

Every time we’ve asked, you and nearly 40,000 people like you who love mountains have taken action — spreading the word among friends, speaking up to Congress, sending in comments to regulatory agencies, and making sure the world knows that the days of destroying mountains for cheap coal are numbered.

Yet the push back from Big Coal is gaining strength — and the final showdown to end mountaintop removal coal mining may arrive in 2010.

Can you help us prepare for what will surely be a critical year by making a contribution to iLoveMountains today?

Click here to make a contribution.

In the past year, your support has made a tremendous difference:

1. In Congress, we’ve gained a record 161 Co-Sponsors for the Clean Water Protection Act — and a companion bill, the Appalachian Restoration Act, was introduced for the first time ever in the United States Senate, which currently has 10 co-sponsors.
2. In an historic turnaround, Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) “spoke the truth” and warned the coal industry that “the practice of mountaintop removal mining has a diminishing constituency in Washington.”
3. The EPA recommended that 79 proposed valley fill permits not be issued as written, while the Office of Surface Mining proposed overturning the Bush-era stream buffer zone rule, which made it easier for big coal to dump mining waste into thousands of miles of streams.
4. The importance of fight to save Coal River Mountain spread from living rooms across America to the Climate Summit in Copenhagan, becoming a symbol of the choice America faces between a clean energy future and the pollution of past sources of power.

All of this happened because people like you have sent more than 100,000 letters to Congress, the Senate, and Executive agencies… because hundreds of ordinary citizens have traveled to Washington or visited with their representatives during in-district visits… because more than 2,000 bloggers have joined our “Blogger’s Challenge” and spread the word about mountaintop removal…. and because you’e helped spread the word to family and friends, growing our movement to nearly 40,000 people who are committed to taking action online.

Can you help us increase that momentum by making a contribution today? Any amount you can afford to give — whether $25, $100, or $500 — goes directly to supporting our campaign to end mountaintop removal, and gives us the critical resources we’ll need in 2010:

Click here to contribute today.

Thank you for doing everything you can to help end mountaintop removal coal mining.

Matt Wasson
iLoveMountains.org

PS. Want to be among the activists who join us for the 5th Annual End Mountaintop Removal Week in Washington, coming up March 6-10th, 2010? Save the date and learn more by clicking here.