West Virginia

- Maria Gunnoe & Bill McKibben, 350.org

Earth Justice, *Maria Gunnoe: My Mountain Story*

In 2000, the mountain ridge above Maria Gunnoe’s home became a mountaintop removal coal mining site. She and her family withstood ground-shaking explosions, clouds of harmful dust, severe floods, and poisonous contamination of the drinking water in their home, which was eventually destroyed by a flood, a common effect of mountaintop removal mining. The coal company told her it was an "act of God."

Her experiences transformed Maria from an everyday person into a courageous, outspoken organizer for the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, board member of the nonprofit flight tour organization SouthWings (which has made possible all of the aerial views and photos of mountaintop removal), and leader of the movement to stop mountaintop removal. Over the years, her bold work has opened countless eyes to the truth about coal and its path of destruction. Her life has been threatened numerous times for her criticism of the coal industry, and she’s been assaulted and harassed, but she has refused to be silenced.

In 2009, she was awarded the prestigious Goldman Prize, or "Green Nobel," for her courageous activism against destructive mountaintop removal mining. In October 2012, Maria Gunnoe will be the 22nd recipient of the University of Michigan's Wallenberg Medal, a high honor for recognizing the world's preeminent humanitarian leaders. Other recipients of the Wallenberg Medal include Aung San Suu Kyi, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, Fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet. Maria will be the first person to receive the medal for work on environmental justice. This recognition attests to the serious humanitarian consequences of mountaintop removal mining...
Read more:https://earthjustice.org/mountain-heroes/maria-gunnoe

*The Last Mountain* (2011) the fight to save Coal River Mountain, WV & Appalachia from Mountaintop Removal mining
http://thelastmountainmovie.com/film/