Child Porn Charge Against Activist an Attempt to Sidestep Discussion on Mountaintop Removal

In case you missed this outrageous bit of absurdity, noted
anti-mountaintop removal mining activist Maria Gunnoe was investigated
for child porn recently because she tried to show Congressmen a photo of
a little girl sitting in a bathtub of polluted water.

Gunnoe, who was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize
in 2009 for her efforts to fight mountaintop removal coal mining in
West Virginia, was scheduled to testify to the House Committee on
Natural Resources on the adverse impacts of the Spruce No. 1 coal mine,
the largest proposed strip-mining operation in central Appalachia.

This was to be her fourth testimony before the committee. This time,
in order to underscore her point, she decided to display a photograph
of a five-year-old child sitting in a tub of brown, arsenic-laden water
as an example of how runoff from mountaintop removal sites
contaminates the local water supply.

The image, shot by award-winning photographer Katie Falkenberg,
was part of a photo essay about the effects of mountaintop removal
coal mining and had been taken with consent from the child’s parents.
In the caption accompanying the photo Falkenberg wrote: “The coal
company that mines the land around their home has never admitted to
causing this problem, but they do supply the family with bottled water
for drinking and cooking.” (Falkenberg has since removed the image from
her website claiming that the child’s family “has declined media
request to use” the photo. However copies are still a simple Google
search away.)

Gunnoe, who says the committee member have avoided looking at her
during past hearings, hoped the photograph would get committee members
look her in the eye for a change. (Read the text of her testimony here.)

But on the day of the hearing, June 1, Representative Doug Lamborn – a
Colorado Springs Republican and the subcommittee’s chairman – not only
barred Gunnoe from showing the image, but he went as far as accusing
her of being a child pornographer and had his staff call the cops on
her. Coal, incidentally, is a billion-dollar industry in Lamborn’s home
state.

After the censored hearing, Gunnoe was taken aside by Capitol Police
and questioned for 45 minutes. The cops later said they had “discovered
no criminal activity,” related to the photo, but that the case is
still open to prosecution.

This is not the first time Gunnoe has faced harassment for her
activism. She has received several death threats in the past, her
daughter’s dog was shot dead, and pro-mining goons have plaster wanted
posters with her photo in local stores.

But
that doesn’t meant we should let pass this unscrupulous effort to
intimidate Gunnoe, and to obfuscate the real issue – the environmental
and health impact of a 2,278 acre mountaintop mining project that would
bury 6.6 miles of streams. Studies have shown
that people living by mountaintop removal cites are 50 percent more
likely to die of cancer, have higher risk of kidney disease, and are
more likely to have children with birth defects than other communities
in the Appalachia region.

Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition,
the grassroots group Gunnoe works with, wants a public apology from
Lamborn and his staff. It’s asking those outraged by what happened
Gunnoe to turn on the pressure on Lamborn by submitting letters, documents, and information
to the Congressional record of the June 1 hearing. This is a public
record, and according to House rules, the public is free to submit comments and information on this particular hearing. until 5 p.m. Eastern Time this Friday, June 15.

The coalition has some good ideas for messages we can send, including
“sending a bathtub photo of your own kids.” I don’t have any children
of my own, but when I told my sister about Gunnoe’s ordeal last
evening, she immediately told me I could post a bathtub photo of my two
nieces instead.

Borrowing the coalition’s idea, here’s my message to Mr Lamborn and the Congressional subcommittee:

“Dear Sirs, If you think this photo of my
beloved little nieces is also pornography you can tell the Capitol
Police how to find my sister and me.”