Call or E-mail! SB 508 a “Kick in the Face”
West Virginians well know: The 2016 Legislative Session is underway. And so, we urgently need you to make some calls and/or visit your legislators.

First up: WV Senate Bill #508 is a Kick in the Face to Local Residents. Our friends with WVSORO report:

Earlier this week, seven Senators introduced SB 508, which would take away citizens’ ability to bring “nuisance” suits against oil and gas drillers.  As we reported in our Summer 2015 newsletter, a number of these cases have been filed in Doddridge, Harrison, Marion, Pleasants, Ritchie and Kanawha Counties against companies drilling and operating wells to the Marcellus and other shale formations.

SB 508 undermines the law hundreds of West Virginians have used to file suit against the oil and gas companies whose activities have negatively affected their quality and way of life, making it virtually impossible for other affected residents to bring similar suits in the future. Bringing this type of legal action is the only recourse many people have. We can’t let the Legislature take this right away.

Please contact members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and your Senators and tell them to oppose SB 508 and preserve our right to bring nuisance suits.

Here’s an e-mail list of all the Senate Judiciary Committee members. At the bottom of the list are all the e-dresses compiled so that they can be copied and pasted into an one e-mail, so you can quickly contact all the members at once.

Need some inspiration to write your letter? SORO has shared a letter one member sent to her legislators; see that here. Remember, your own words sway legislators more than a  boiler plate e-mail, so please write your own e-mail or call today!

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Contact the WV Senate About SB 408
As you may know, OVEC is a co-leader of WV Citizens for Clean Elections.

This coming Monday, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are expected to take up SB 408, a bill that is problematic for a number of reasons. For one, the bill completely ignores the biggest problem with money in politics — secret money. Unfortunately, current disclosure laws in West Virginia allow contributors to hide their identity while influencing our elections. Learn more about the bill here.

Citizens for Clean Elections is urging you to contact members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and your legislators and tell them to vote “No” on SB 408. Allowing more money into our elections without increasing disclosure is self-serving and keeps West Virginians in the dark about who is trying to influence their votes.

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Power+ Plus to the People: Sign On
Okay, finally something for those of you who aren’t based in West Virginia. OVEC is a member group of The Alliance for Appalachia; another member group of the Alliance has made it very easy for you to sign on in support of the POWER+ Plan, which could help diversify our economies and strengthen our communities.

Learn more here and sign on here to urge Congress to pass the POWER+ Plan, to help communities struggling with the decline of the coal industry make a just transition to a new economy.

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Big Water Event at State Capitol Today
If you follow us on Twitter or Facebook (or if your e-mail is in OVEC’s database and you live near Charleston), then you’ll know today is a big day for us.

Nearly 40 West Virginia citizen groups have signed on to a letter to residents of Flint, MI in solidarity with their water woes. The letter will be released today during a press conference.

If you can, please join us today, Tuesday, February 9 at 2 p.m. in the Lower Rotunda of the WV State Capitol. Wear blue!

You can join the event on Facebook here. If you can’t make it to the press conference, check our blog at 2 p.m. for the letter and watch our news page for news updates (click the OVEC icon).

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