Here Come the Judds: Singer Naomi Judd Joins Fight Against Mountaintop Removal
Posted July 14, 2010 in Health and the Environment, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places, Solving Global Warming
From humble beginnings as a single mother in a small Kentucky town to her meteoric rise as a country music superstar and American icon, Naomi Judd's incredible lifelong journey is an inspiring story of overcoming the odds through optimism and hard work. Now she will bring that same kind of commitment to NRDC's campaign to end mountaintop removal coal mining, as she joins the burgeoning ranks of performers who are part of our Music Saves Mountains initiative.
[UPDATE: Early press coverage of Naomi's entry into our campaign.]
Naomi Judd was first known to the world as half of country music's mother/daughter duo, The Judds. Reaching unprecedented success throughout the 80's and 90's, The Judds sold 20 million records, scored fourteen #1 hits and received over sixty industry awards, including six Grammy's and seven consecutive CMA Vocal Group of the Year awards and the ACM's Top Vocal Duet award. At the pinnacle of their career, Naomi was stricken with Hepatitis C, a potentially fatal chronic liver disease, incurred from an infected needle when she worked as a registered nurse, cutting short her musical career and forcing her into retirement to battle the disease.
The Judds bid farewell to the fans in 1991, but Naomi did not step out of the public spotlight for long. Today, Naomi is a survivor of Hepatitis C and served as the first national spokesperson for the American Liver Foundation. She also continues humanitarian efforts including River Cities Harvest, the Saint Louis University Liver Center, M.A.D.D., Parents Television Council, Make-A-Difference Day, Women's World Peace Initiative, the National Domestic Violence Hotline -- and even created her own July 4th Judd's Annual Food Drive to benefit families of Appalachia.
As she prepares to hit the road for "The Judds: Final Encore" tour later this year, NRDC is delighted that Naomi will use her fame and her passion for helping people to shine a spotlight on an atrocity in her native Appalachia -- the systematic decapitation of America's oldest mountains by coal companies.
"I care about people and I like to help, it's that simple," says Naomi. "To me, what is happening to the Appalachian Mountains is horrible but even worse is what mountaintop removal is doing to the people who live in those communities. Traditional coal mining jobs are being eliminated by mechanization and the incessant blasting and pollution is endangering coalfield communities."
Naomi learned about this controversial strip mining practice from her daughter, actress Ashley Judd. At NRDC's recent "Music Saves Mountains" benefit concert in Nashville, Naomi opened the show with heartfelt remarks about the cultural significance of Appalachia to country music.
"The Appalachian region is the backbone of America and we simply cannot forsake our natural and national heritage for short-term profits that leave the region worse off than it was before," said Naomi. "We can have coal mining without losing our heritage or hurting people."
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Comments
Wendy Neill — Jul 15 2010 09:28 AM
I love that Naomi Judd is getting involved , she is an inspiring woman! The more celebrities that can join this effort the better.
Stanley Sturgill — Jul 15 2010 01:22 PM
I think Naomi Judd is a classic example of someone being alone, but still being able to work hard for what she wanted for her children and herself. I truly admire her for being able to do something like this even through the pain and suffering she must have endured throughout her life, thus far. What else would you expect other than she come to the defense of her children, especially when she feels the same way. That’s how my mom was and I loved my mom dearly. I think it’s great that we get such prestigious support in our endeavor to stop the destruction of our beautiful mountains and mountain streams.
My name is Stanley Sturgill and I live in Lynch, Kentucky at the foot of Black Mountain the highest peak in Kentucky. I know what a struggle it is to try and keep what the good Lord has provided for all the good people in our area, our mountains and water. Our mountain streams that flow off Black Mountain provide us with the best water in the state and this water eventually flows all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. The coal industry now threatens to destroy what we have by surface mining all way around our small coal mining town. Once our mountains and water are gone where will we go? The coal industry is not concerned with the people that live here. They don’t live here. The will surely not compensate us for our loss. I don’t have to explain to you, you know their only concern is the profit they will make from our coal. Surface mining is the big thing now it is the cheapest way to mine with less miners and can be done over a short period of time. Is it any wonder why we have so many miners out of work? Our Kentucky leaders in Washington (McConnell and Rogers) support the coal industry 100%, of course they only look at the support they will receive from the industry for their next election.
I hope and pray with additional support (no matter who wants to help) for stopping mountain top removal we can get this sinful way of doing business stopped. If coal mining is limited to underground mining methods there will be many additional jobs for the coal mining industry in every respect. Like Naomi, I’m going to do everything I can in support of stopping MTR. I hope you will also help us.
Stanley Sturgill, Active member of Kentuckians For The Commonwealth and retired underground coal miner and Federal Coal Mine Inspector with 41 years of service to the coal industry