The Buzz: Hansen, Other Coal Protesters Arrested

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Last Tuesday, West Virginia State Police arrested NASA climate scientist James Hansen for trespassing on a Massey Energy-owned coal plant near the state's Coal River Valley. Thirty-one demonstrators--also including actress Daryl Hannah and former West Virginia Representative Ken Hechler--were apprehended while protesting the company's practice of mountaintop removal mining, which both perpetuates the use of coal as a source of fuel and devastates surrounding natural habitats. Hansen has long advocated against mountaintop removal, and criticized the Obama administration's recent pledge to reform but not abolish the practice as a "halfway measure."

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