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The
Garden Club of Virginia will hold its 50th
Annual Conservation Forum at the Museum
of Natural History in Martinsville, Virginia,
November 6- 7, 2008. Open to the
public, the forum addresses environmental and cultural impacts of mountaintop
removal and coal-fired power in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Richmond, VA October 10, 2008 -- The Garden Club of Virginia
will host its 50th Annual Conservation Forum at the new Virginia Museum of Natural History,
an affiliate of the Smithsonian, in Martinsville,
Virginia, on November
6-7, 2008. Robin and Linda Williams, whose “voices can
melt cheese...,” according to Garrison Keillor of Prairie
Home Companion, will entertain
forum attendees at dinner on Thursday evening. On Friday morning, well known environmental speakers
will address the impacts of
mountaintop removal and coal-fired power to the Commonwealth, as well as
alternatives and solutions offered by energy efficiency, conservation, and
renewable energy.
Mountaintop removal is a coal extraction practice
in Southwest Virginia in which mountains are systematically blown up and
valleys are filled in with tons of resultant spoil—trees, rocks, and
soil. Blasting, dust and debris wipe
out forests (another important natural resource), pollute streams, and
permanently alter soil composition. Since the
approved Wise County
power plant must burn only Virginia coal,
waste coal, and biomass, citizens fear the expansion of mountaintop removal
in Virginia.
Speakers
Award-winning filmmaker Jeff Barrie, of Kilowatt
Ours, will present alternatives to coal-fired energy based on
conservation and renewable power. Mary
Ann Hitt, Executive Director of Appalachian Voices
and fellow in the Environmental Leadership Program, will discuss the
landscapes and culture decimated by mountaintop removal. In addition, citizen
activist Kathy Selvage, Vice President of Southern Appalachian Mountain
Stewards, retired miner Pete Ramey, and former coal inspector Larry Bush,
will talk about the impacts of mountaintop removal and coal-fired power on
their lives in Wise County,
Virginia.
At the forum’s conclusion, The Garden Club
of Virginia’s prestigious Dugdale Award for
Conservation will be presented to two individuals: Robert
G. Burnley, Director of the Department of
Environmental Quality from 2002 to 2006, and Stanley G. Breakell president of Breakell Inc. in Roanoke,
who is known for his leadership in sustainable business and building
practices.
The Garden Club of Virginia is an
association of forty-seven garden clubs, whose members collectively form a
group of more than 3,300 civic leaders from around the Commonwealth. For 75
years, The GCV has celebrated the beauty of the land, conserved the gifts of
nature, and challenged future generations to build on this heritage.
Contact: Merry
A. Outlaw, Chairman, Conservation Forum
The Garden Club of Virginia Conservation and Beautification Committee
757-253-2419
xkv8rs@aol.com
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