Students protest UNC's link to coal company

Before a backdrop of signs that read, “Coal mining threatens over 240 species” and “1.4 million acres of land impacted,” the members of Sierra Club’s Coal-Free UNC campaign used a paper mache model of a mountain Wednesday to protest UNC’s alleged link to mountaintop removal.

Sierra Club organizer Laura Stevens said the purpose of the demonstration was to inform students of UNC’s relationship with Red River Coal Company, which has received media attention for mountaintop removal coal mining.

“UNC is purchasing from coal companies that use mountaintop removal to mine coal,” she said, “This is to build awareness.”

Taylor Timmerman, a community outreach coordinator for Coal-Free UNC, said the demonstration was a physical representation of the destructive powers of mountaintop removal.

“UNC has said in the past that it doesn’t use coal that has been extracted using mountaintop removal practices, but the coal company that we buy from has been linked to mountaintop removal,” Timmerman said.

Mountaintop removal uses explosives to detonate the tops of mountains in order to access the valuable coal underground. Timmerman said most mountaintop removal occurs in the mountains of Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky.

But the effects transcend the actual destruction of the mountains, she said.

“It has threatened over 200 species of animals that live in the mountains. Appalachia is one of the most diverse eco-cultures in the world, and we’re destroying it,” Timmerman said. “When they blow up the mountain, it releases toxins like mercury, arsenic and lead into the air, which then goes into drinking water.”

In January, Chancellor Holden Thorp announced a task force to address energy use at UNC, but controversy over the subject continues to grow.



Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.