Sep. 26--After coal strip mining began around Kathy Selvage's Wise County home in 2005, early-morning Bible reading on the front porch became unbearable for her elderly mother, Selvage said.

A Texas company used high explosives and heavy equipment to rip coal from the hills around the hamlet of Glamorgan, where Selvage lived, and then abandoned the mine without restoring the land. Selvage, an officer now in a group called Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, said the mining experience was behind her six-hour drive to Richmond yesterday. Here, she joined with representatives of four other conservation groups at The Jefferson Ho el to launch a fight against Dominion Virginia Power's proposed coal-burning power plant in Wise County. Many more lush mountains will be turned to rubble to provide fuel, if the power plant is built, Selvage said.

Opponents are seeking 100,000 signatures on a "mile-long" petition against the plant. They hope to present their protest to the CEO and board of utility parent Dominion Resources Inc. at next year's annual shareholders meeting. The groups -- including the Sierra Club, Southern Environmental Law Center, Appalachian Voice and Chesapeake Climate Action Network -- argue the plant would lead to more strip mining and worsen global warming, among other environmental harms. Dominion V rginia Power is planning to build an "old-style" coal-burning plant, that could pose financial risks for the company if Congress passes global warming legislation, they said.

"We disagree with their conclusion," said Jim Norvelle, a Dominion Virginia Power spokesman. Virginia will need 4,000 megawatts of new energy during the next 10 years -- a 17.6 percent increase above current capacity -- to meet the growing demands of its residents and business, Norvelle said. The utility will respond with conservation, renewabl energy sources, new technologies, and a balanced and logical approach to meeting energy needs, he said. Selvage, whose father was a coal miner, acknowledged that Southwest Virginia has a history of coal mining, but she said it is time to start creating a new history.

She wants a future, she said, that doesn't hold the threat of global warming. Contact Greg Edwards at (804) 649-6390 or gedwards@timesdispatch.com.