James E. Hansen, NASA's chief climate scientist, actress Daryl Hannah, and others were arrested for entering the Goals Coal plant owned by Massey Energy, the biggest company conducting mountaintop removal in West Virginia.

"Mountaintop removal, providing only a small fraction of our energy, should be abolished," said Dr. Hansen. Mountaintop removal results in clear cutting of biologically diverse forests and dumping of waste rock into valley streams below.

Hansen believes all coal burning plants will have to be shut down by 2030 in order to avert catastrophic climate change. He also criticized the US Congress climate bill that would allow for the construction of new coal plants under various provisions.