Our friend and fellow videographer, "FluxRostrum" posted this video today showing local and student activists squatting at the Governor's with a burning desire to speak truth to power.
Manchin has said that he does not have the authority to overstep the federally granted rights of the out-of-state corporations who are conducting the surface mining. A legal opinion called Dillon's Law, which instituted the rights of property owners (read "corporations") over the right of individuals (read "communities"), provides the necessary veil behind which the Governor can defend himself. However, the opinon can be challenged and that would be a strong statement from the pro-death penalty, anti-choice Democratic Governor of West Virginia for his constituents. Where the Governor's pro-corporate cards may be more apparent is in the lack of prosecution of errant coal and drug companies whose accidents have often cost local communities their survivability and have compromised the health of its residents.
West Virginia residents concerned with demanding local rights within their state may have to model themselves after other communities seeking to dominate local control. In Spokane, WA, a town under the oligarchical control of a few families, a nexus of organization have created Envision Spokane. Guided by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), Envision Spokane has placed an initiative on their November ballot calling for a community bill of rights that could challenge Dillon's Law.