By Kate Finneran
Appalachian Voices National Field Coordinator, 2011-12

Thank you to everyone for making this Week in Washington such a success! Thanks to all of your efforts we had over 135 people in D.C. lobbying simultaneously to end mountaintop removal, attended over 120 meetings, and created a ripple effect of change that we will see continue through this year and beyond.

Our combined efforts of our 7th Annual lobby week and the Day of Action tied together different tactics in a new way for our movement. People noticed. Don’t believe me? Just ask Rolling Stone, Politico, The State Journal, The Republic, or my family’s personal favorite: Fly, Rod, & Reel. In addition to everything we did in D.C., over 200,000 were exposed to our message on Twitter, 200,000 through Facebook, 27,000 viewed our pictures on Flickr, and hundreds of people across the country called their Representatives to tell them to cosponsor the Clean Water Protection Act!

If you couldn’t make it to D.C. or haven’t encouraged your representative to co-sponsor the Clean Water Protection Act lately, please give them a call and ask for their support!

We want to thank each and everyone who came to DC, hit the marble floors of Congress running, and made it clear that we’re not backing down.

Go, fight, win!

-The Week in Washington Planning Team