Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition sponsored a poster making event Wednesday in preparation of their rally this weekend.

Robin Blakeman, project coordinator for OVEC, is planning a rally in support of environmental protections in West Virginia. Blakeman and her colleague, Dustin White, said they want to raise awareness about their events and cause.

“The biggest thing is being out there creating the awareness to let our elected officials know that people do still have a voice,” White said.

The event is in response to the reduction of environmental protections on carbon emissions from coal by President Donald Trump last month.  Blakeman and White said they encourage people to attend Saturday’s rally to become more informed on West Virginia’s environmental issues.

“These are rules that we as citizens went to D.C. and worked with these agencies to make,” White said.

The OVEC project coordinators said this made it personal for them to establish a sense of awareness Saturday at the rally.

“These aren’t Obama era rules.  There are our rules,” Blakeman said.

One of OVEC’s allies is Marshall University’s Native American Student Organization. Blakeman said the organization will be at the rally Saturday to support OVEC.

The Rise for Climate Rally is planned for 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 8, at Heritage Station.

Meg Keller can be contacted at [email protected].