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.
Not exact matches
For example, PNC no longer lends to
coal producers
with anything more than a minimal exposure to
mountaintop removal mining.
Mountaintop removal coal mining is an extremely destructive form of strip
mining found in central and southern Appalachia,
with some
mines as big as the island of Manhattan.
Mountaintop removal coal mining devastates the landscape, turning areas that should be lush
with forests and wildlife into barren moonscapes.
We've heard far too many stories about
mountaintop removal coal mines polluting streams in Appalachia,
coal plants polluting waterways
with toxic
coal cash - the stories unfortunately go on and on.
In the case of
mountaintop removal mining,
coal companies are exploding entire mountains to reach buried seams of
coal and then filling valleys
with the rubble, burying hundreds of miles of stream forever.
«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.
Coal mining has progressively changed from predominantly underground
mining to surface
mining [143], including
mountaintop removal with valley fill, which is now widespread in the Appalachian ecoregion in the United States.
It was a beautiful service filled
with hundreds of people who loved and were inspired by Larry, a long - time fighter of
mountaintop -
removal coal mining and lover of mountains.
It is
with great sadness that we announce the passing of Julia «Judy» Bonds, a charismatic and tireless leader in the fight against
mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia.
The recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and recent
coal -
mine disasters (not to mention
mountaintop removal) have reminded Americans of the risks associated
with oil drilling and
coal mining.
It's unclear how many rural anti-wind activists are OK
with coal mining mountaintop removal but they should realize it's all part of the pillaging continuum, regardless of whether it pays their bills (where wisdom ends and greed prevails).
Unfortunately, there is little information on the cumulative impacts of
mountaintop removal because the federal agencies that are charged
with regulating
coal mining have refused to track the overall extent and impacts of
mountaintop removal.
I'm still not entirely comfortable
with nuclear but I admit ignorance there and thus don't really advocate directly against it (PS somewhat the same position
with GM foods / crops); what I know enough to be afraid of and advocate against is a BAU future of
coal, oil, and gas, especially one without CCS or other sequestration,
with mountaintop removal mining,
with tar sands,
with fracking (you may already be aware of the radioactivity associated
with that), Hg, escalating prices, etc (and you would be against this too, I'm sure).
Surface
mining has also become a dominant driver of land - use change and water pollution in certain regions of the world, where
mountaintop removal,
coal and tar sands exploitation, and other open pit
mining methods strip land surfaces of forests and topsoils, produce vast quantities of toxic sludge and solid waste, and often fill valleys, rivers, and streams
with the resulting waste and debris [81].
Calling Protest Extremism Stifles Legitimate Public Discussion & Action Second, there is the possibility of genuine extremism out there in the broad environmental movement: Blockading a
mountaintop removal coal mine or loudly protesting outside one is one thing, specifically threatening workers or
mine owners
with violence (which to my knowledge has never happened, I only use it as an example), would be another entirely.