The President's climate commitment gives us great hope that he will finally address some of the remaining, worst abuses of the fossil fuel industry, including dirty and dangerous fracking, ending the devastating practice
of mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia, rejecting the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, halting destructive oil drilling in the Arctic, and overhauling the sweetheart deal on public lands that pads the bottom line of coal companies at public expense.
The participants voiced a wide range of concerns, from the impact of hydroelectric dams on American Indian populations to the E.P.A.'s review of
mountaintop removal coal mining permits to the longevity of a green jobs recovery.
While floor time was dominated by political supporters of the coal mining industry, environmental activists Maria Gunnoe and Bo Webb got a chance to represent the real voices of families who have to live
with mountaintop removal coal mining every day.
«The Court's action today is critical to protecting the people of Appalachia and our water supplies from what would have been one of the most harmful
mountaintop removal coal mining sites in the history of our region,» said Bill Price, an organizer for the Sierra Club based in West Virginia.
From birth defects
surrounding mountaintop removal coal mines, to the subsequent attempts to pass these same issues off on in - breeding, we've had some prime examples of community betrayal at the hands of the coal industry here in the States.
On June 29, Kucinich, Rep. Louise Slaughter, and several others introduced the Appalachian Communities Health Emergency Act (H.R. 5959), a bill that would «place a moratorium on permitting
for mountaintop removal coal mining until health studies are conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services.»
More than 85,000 citizens sent comments to VDOT and FHWA expressing their concerns about the harm that
mountaintop removal coal mining associated with this project would have on drinking water, community health, and quality of life.
On the other side of the country,
mountaintop removal coal mining opponents received good news when the Federal Highway Administration announced that the Virginia Department of Transportation will be required to conduct a full environmental review for a controversial 26 - mile section of the Coalfields Expressway that would run through southwest Virginia.
The Clean Water Protection Act is a bill in the US House of Representatives which will sharply
reduce mountaintop removal coal mining by protecting our headwater streams, where our rivers, like the Mississippi and the Ohio, are born.
Mountaintop removal coal mining prevents the region from obtaining economic justice — the EPA can help by protecting water quality and encouraging sustainable clean energy solutions that take us beyond these destructive mining practices.»
«We applaud the court for recognizing EPA's broad authority to protect water quality from extreme practices
like mountaintop removal coal mining,» said Ben Luckett, attorney with Appalachian Mountain Advocates.
This victory came as many residents from across the Appalachian region were in Washington, D.C., this week to demand that Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency
stop mountaintop removal coal mining.
Updating a few items on issues we've been tracking and writing about: EPA takes a step in the right direction
on mountaintop removal coal mining; Cuccinelli's radical right - wing star keeps rising at Virginia tea party convention; Chris Mooney on communicating... Continue reading →
Goldman Prize recipients Maria Gunnoe (2009) and Judy Bonds (2003), well - known advocates fighting against
mountaintop removal coal mining in the Eastern United States, have both spoken out in support of the Obama administration's new commitment to reviewing mining permits granted in the Bush years.
«Within this plan, the Obama administration is doing all it can under existing laws and regulations to curb the most environmentally destructive impacts of
mountaintop removal coal mining.»