The members of Louisville rock band My Morning Jacketappear in a new campaignby non-profit Earthjustice that opposes mountaintop removal coal mining.Earthjustice's Mountain Heroes campaign includes photos and videos submitted by people who are against the controversial form of surface mining. These range from local environmental activists--like Teri Blanton, Maria Gunnoe and Chuck Nelson--to celebrities (Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Edward Norton, Alexandra Cousteau)--to people around the country who submit their own stories.On the Mountain Heroes website, Earthjustice says this about My Morning Jacket: While the band has gained fame, they've stayed true to their environmental ideals and have worked to foster environmental stewardship among their fans and at their shows, working with advocacy partners such as Rock The Earth to educate concert-goers on critical environmental issues, and playing in environmentally focused festivals such as the Forecastle Festival.My Morning Jacket has been associated with environmental causes in the past. In 2010, Jim James collaborated with Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore to release a CD that drew attention to mountaintop removal and its effects. All three musicians performed at a benefit for Kentuckians for the Commonwealth at the Brown Theatre.The Mountain Heroes pageincludes this message from the band: "We are My Morning Jacket. We want to see an end to mountaintop removal. We care about our mountains and Appalachia."
