Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining site in southwest Virginia
I never thought it would happen! The Obama administration has effectively put a hold on mountaintop removal coal mining. I remember when I took the photo above almost 3 years ago, I thought it would be too difficult to stop the coal mining companies but Obama did, just like that. Now, our remaining mountains are safe for now. Too bad for the 500 or so mountains already destroyed in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee though.
From CBS/Associated Press March 24, 2009:
(CBS/AP) The Environmental Protection Agency is putting on hold hundreds of mountaintop coal-mining permits until it can evaluate the projects' impacts on streams and wetlands.
The decision was announced Tuesday by EPA administrator Lisa Jackson. It targets a controversial practice by coal mining companies that dump waste from mountaintop mining into streams and wetlands.
It could delay 150-250 permits being sought by companies wanting to begin blasting mountaintops to access coal.
UPDATE: In response to comments below, I wanted to elaborate on what I've learned about mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining.
Back in 2001 Bush put MTR on steroids by fast tracking permits and allowing debris to be dumped into valleys. I toured MTR sites by a small plane in Virginia a couple of years ago. Several 10 mile-long ridges were decapitated. It was sickening. And, that was nothing the pilot said compared to southern West Virginia.
Those who commented that these people voted for Bush: With the exception of the few who worked in coal mining, most of the residents I met did not vote for Bush and were hoping that Clinton would be the Democratic Party's nominee next time. I don't know if they came around for Obama but I am sure they are grateful for what he has done.
In one little hollow community, homeowners were being inundated by coal dust from trucks passing from MTR sites to coal processing facilities nearby. They also suffered when the blasting started about 2001 which structurally damaged many houses.
One man I interviewed was literally propping up his house which had major cracks all over the foundation. When I visited his mom who lives two doors down just last summer, she said he had to move away because the house had become unsafe. The state mining health inspector (former mining employee) said the damage was due to it being an old house. On another new house which had major structural damage, he said the damage was due to a poorly prepared site. I know enough about house construction to know that both assessments were highly suspect. It was the blasting that had caused the damage.
The coal mining lobbyists are already contacting the media and their "in their pocket" politicians. So, the fight will continue to protect the Appalachian mountains.
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Comments
I wonder if the recent campains had anything to do with this very important stoppage of the coal companies. I sure hope so.
You could put up more pics of the mess left and show the fowled water I keep reading about.
Thank God Obama has done something to stop this!!
raising coffee high and cheering here.
apologies for the mini-rant. rated
ghostwriter--I think partly because Bush escalated MTR that helped to raise everyone's awareness of the destruction. See note above about how these people voted.
mamoore--yes, we can celebrate this achievement that's effective immediately!
Now lets get out there and plant trees back along that pit and restore its beauty!
Rated
I believe Obama will continue to do the right thing!!!
gmgaston--the companies spray an alien grass seed which grows (actually it would grow on a table) and they call that reclamation!
Proud and Progressive--yes, I am very happy I campaigned for this guy.
Rated and Appreciated
Great post :) thanks!!!
1_irritated_mother: Luckily, I live about 30 miles east of all that development on I-81. Our area is rural with no coal reserves thankfully. But, we have a very dirty coal power plant with many fly ash dumps and ponds waiting for disaster someday.
And without even a formal declaration, too....
Great post!
[p.s. Nikki Giovanni was in the Philly area a few years ago for a public reading... and gave us quite a good show.]
Mountains take a long time to grow.
I know Nikki Giovanni (been to a few English Dept. parties). She is great--very gracious, kind and a marvelous poet.
All you have to know about the "compassionate conservatism" of George Bush is to look at who he put in charge of mine safety. It's no coincidence that so many more miners died during the bush reign, nor is it a coincidence that most of them worked in non-union mines.
As for MTR, this tragedy is made even worse by virtue of the fact that the very people whose lives were ruined by it likely voted for bush because of his "christian family values". What a crock of shit!
Unless people in this country grow up about economics and politics -- and very soon -- we will be the canary in the coal mine.
Thanks for this!
In West Virginia, they say "Montani semper liberi." But what if there are no mountains?