By Garrett Wymer

More than 30 cups and bottles of water, soda and Ale-8 were raised in a toast to clean water and energy at a rally in Cheapside Park on Tuesday evening.

The rally was a part of the Cumberland Chapter of the Sierra Club’s nationwide day of action: “Coal is a Dirty Business.”

The original rally, “Don’t Contaminate our Ale-8,” was scheduled to focus on the impact a potential new coal-fired power plant and coal-ash holding would have on the Lexington community — including the Ale-8-One factory, near where it would be located, said Lydia Courtright, a sociology senior and co-coordinator of UK Greenthumb.

However, when Ale-8-One did not condone use of its company name for the rally, the local Cumberland Chapter of the Sierra Club  had to modify the rally, Courtright said.

The rally instead focused on the impact of the plant—and coal in general—on Lexington’s and UK’s water supply.

According to a Sierra Club flier, the proposed East Kentucky Power Cooperative boiler, Smith Power Station, would be located in Clark County, Ky., near the Kentucky River.

The purpose of the rally was to spread the no-coal message and to support clean water and healthy people, said Courtright, who held a sign that read “Clean Coal is a Dirty Lie.”

Courtright and 10 other Greenthumb members took part in the event at Cheapside Park to help increase “public awareness of this important issue taking place,” Courtright said.

“Coal’s such a huge issue,” she said.  “It’s an important time for action.”

Lauren McGrath, associate regional representative for Sierra Club’s National Beyond Coal Campaign, said the rally’s greater goal was three-fold.

“We want to stop the new proposed coal plant, retire old coal and stop the devastation it causes,” McGrath said.

McGrath said the local rally was part of Sierra Club’s nationwide effort to “move America beyond coal.”

Another focus of the rally was mobilizing grassroots support and energizing initiative behind the anti-coal movement, McGrath said.

“When politics fails, it takes direct action,” said physics graduate student Martin Mudd.

Courtright said she felt it was Greenthumb’s duty as an environmental and sustainability advocate to take part in the event, and students’ duty to speak out on the issue of coal.

“After all,” she said, “it’s our future; it’s our economy—it’s our environment.”