Ken Hechler

Laura Steepleton and Nick Stocks spent the past week tree-sitting 80 feet above the ground in an act of civil disobedience protesting Massey Energy's mountaintop removal site there.

Tragic lessons in history remind us that the coal crisis and its deniers call for more hellraisers, not compromise.

Violence against environmental activists seems almost inevitable in the coalfields this summer as West Virginia politicians ignore the tense situation.

Over 1,300 miles of streams have been sullied and jammed by mountaintop removal operations. Over 500 mountains have been blown to bits.

Daryl Hannah, NASA's celebrated climate scientist James Hansen, and 94-year-old Ken Hechler, the legendary congressman and coal miner hero were arrested in a non-violent protest in West Virginia.

The human rights and constitutional violations of American citizens besieged by ruthless outside coal companies will be on full display this week to the national media and the nation.

Standing at the Massey Energy mountaintop removal operation last month, the 94-year-old Hechler showed no sign of retreating on this egregious violation of human rights and the environment.