Mountain Justice (organization)
Mountain Justice is a grassroots movement established in 2005 to raise world-wide awareness of mountaintop removal mining and its effects on the environment and peoples of Appalachia. The group seeks to encourage conservation, efficiency, solar and wind energy as alternatives to all forms of surface mining. It self-describes as ""a regional Appalachian network committed to ending mountaintop removal"". It seeks justice because the mountaintop removal (MTR) it opposes is a form of coal mining known as mountaintop removal mining which produces coal sludge toxic waste which is stored in a dam on the mountain and leaches into the groundwater, which poisons the environment, which defaces the top of the mountain, and which is not stopped due to political corruption.The group is non-hierarchical and decisions are made using a consensus model of decision making. In 2008, the group shortened their name from Mountain Justice Summer to simply Mountain Justice to reflect the year round efforts of their activities.