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At 7:55am, on Tuesday April 15 activists from Harrisonburg worked with Blue Ridge Earth First! to establish a blockade at the entrance to Dominion Power’s James River headquarters, at 120 Tredegar Street in Richmond. Two activists from Harrisonburg, and one from Charlottesville locked themselves to one another, blocking both lanes of the only road in and out of the office complex. Supporters stood-by holding signs and banners demanding No Coal for Virginia. This action is the latest in a growing campaign challenging Dominion’s proposed coal-fired power plant in Wise County, VA.

Moring commuters headed into the office building sat in an unexpected gridlock, spanning several hundred yards from Tredegar Street to Cary Street as activists maintained the blockade for close to an hour. The police arrived on scene within twenty minutes. After 45 minutes, the police dragged the three activists locked down to the side of the road where they remained for 20 minutes before agreeing to unlock and being released with citations for blocking traffic.

Since Dominion announced its plans for the Wise County Plant in 2006, protests, petitions, and public comments, have poured out from communities across the state. If constructed, the power plant would release 5.4 million tons of CO2 annually, making it one of the biggest polluters in the state. It will also accelerate the rate of mountaintop removal mining in Virginia. Mountaintop removal has already destroyed 25% of Wise County’s Mountains.

Marley “Miles” Green from Harrisonburg, one of the activists participating in the campaign said that, “Government officials have received almost 3.8 million dollars in campaign contributions from Dominion in the past decade.” Green believes this collaborative relationship “has left many Virginians feeling misrepresented by their elected officials.”

Commenting on tensions between Virginian’s and state officials in regards to the Wise County plant Hannah Morgan, a former Wise County resident and current landowner who was locked down in the blockade said, “We’ve voiced our objections in large numbers and continue to exhaust regulatory processes. Dominion and our Virginia legislators are still pushing dirty coal down our throats. It’s clear that if this thing is going to be stopped, we the people are going to have to stop it,” said

Participants traveled from all over the state to participate in the action. Barbie Spitz, a student at James Madison University who participated in the roadblock represents a growing youth voice opposed to Dominion’s coal-fired power plant. “Climate change is jeopardizing my future and I’m not going to just sit by and let Dominion lock us into another generation of dirty coal,” Spitz said. “The youth movement has been gaining momentum around this campaign, demanding Dominion and Virginia politicians implement clean, renewable energy in place of dirty coal. This action comes in accordance with several previous others from around the region,” she added.

Earth First Activist Willie Dodson from Blacksburg, VA said that, “Blue Ridge Earth First!, believes that the climate initiatives being presented by corporations and government have been focused on promoting consumption-based, profit-driven solutions that only serve to maintain business as usual.”

“There’s no such thing as clean coal” Dodson added. “It’s time our entire energy paradigm shift away from all dirty sources, including nuclear, which creates a permanent supply of hazardous waste.” Stressing the need to move towards efficiency, conservation, and the decentralized generation of safe sources such as wind and solar.” Dodson said

Click here for photos of the event.