Our Initiative To Revoke Massey Energy’s Corporate Charter

An independent report investigating the 2010 coal mine explosion in West Virginia blamed Massey Energy for the deaths of twenty-nine miners  when the Big Branch facility exploded. Massey’s parent corporation agreed to criminal and civil penalties, but there are greater consequences beyond money and a slap on the wrist for such lethal recklessness. Revoking Massey Energy’s corporate charter in Delaware is way to hold the corporation accountable.

A corporation is an artificial entity. It exists only because we the people — represented by a state government — allot a charter. Just as we the people can grant that charter, we can also revoke it.  Most major corporations in the U.S., including Massey Energy, are legally based in Delaware. To revoke a charter, the state of Delaware must take action.

In 2011, Free Speech For People, Appalachian Voices, and Rainforest Action Network delivered a petition with 35,000 signatures calling for Massey’s corporate charter to be revoked.