Lake City, Tenn. (Thursday, March 4) – Members of the grassroots, member-run organization Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (SOCM), representing counties throughout Tennessee, will deliver a clear message at the U.S. Capitol March 6 – 10 in conjunction with The Alliance for Appalachia’s fifth annual “End Mountaintop Removal Week in Washington.”

SOCM members will join more than 200 people from 30 states, asking their state representatives to pass the Clean Water Protection Act (H.R. 1310) in the House and the Appalachia Restoration Act (S696) in the Senate. These bills would prohibit the practice of “valley-fills”—the dumping of debris from mining into nearby streams – an important first step toward ending mountaintop removal coal mining.  The Clean Water Protection Act currently has 164 co-sponsors, and the Appalachia Restoration Act has 10 co-sponsors in the Senate.

“This is an important opportunity to pass these bills that will help bring an end to mountaintop removal coalmining and bring Appalachia forward into a green collar economy with jobs that last in Tennessee and throughout the nation,” said long-time SOCM member David Beaty, Jamestown, Tenn.

For other members, the choice to travel to D.C. with the goal of influencing green legislation is new.  The trip will introduce them to lobbying strategies and new political perspectives.

“I am going to Washington because I feel overwhelmed and words sometimes need greater action behind them,” said Elam Blackman, a Knoxville, Tenn. resident. “This is an opportunity to become more involved, and to be taken more seriously. I’ll lose a week in wages, but this choice to take part in work I believe Tennessee needs was long overdue.”

Both bills could help protect coal-bearing regions of the Cumberland Mountains and the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee.

A Congressional reception will be offered for all participants, and the SOCM members will attend the Tennessee Tuesday breakfast sponsored by Tennessee Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker.

SOCM members attending the event include David Beaty, Jamestown, Tenn.; Jean Cheely, Crossville, Tenn.; Emma Ford, Benton, Tenn.; Elam Blackman, Knoxville, Tenn.; Becky Simmons, Homboldt, Tenn.; Vickie Terry, Clairfield, Tenn.; and Vickie’s 16-year-old granddaughter Tabitha Potter, Clairfield, Tenn.

Media are welcome to attend the event, including the Congressional Reception in the Senate Dirksen Building, Tuesday, March 9. We also encourage media to request an interview with a SOCM member. Contact Christina Connally Honkonen, Communications Director, at or 865.705.6716.

 

 

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Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (SOCM) is member-run organization that encourages civic involvement and collective action so that the people of Tennessee have a greater voice in determining their future. The mission of SOCM is to empower Tennesseans to protect, defend, and improve the quality of life in their communities across the state.

 

The Alliance for Appalachia is a coalition of thirteen groups representing more than 13,500 citizens across central Appalachia working to abolish mountaintop removal coal mining and work for a more just and sustainable Appalachia.

 

The Week in Washington is an annual event organized by the Alliance for Appalachia, bringing together more than 100 citizens from the Appalachian coalfields and across the nation who care deeply about mountains, clean water and social justice.