Why it matters:
Because mountains are supposed to have tops… Except Mt. St. Helens. She removed her own.
Recap:
In this article from Mother Nature Network, our own Scott Badenoch reports on President Obama’s tough new stance on Mountaintop Removal Mining. And that stance is… Regulation.
For the uninitiated, Mountaintop Removal Mining is exactly what it sounds like: “Rather than removing the coal from the mountain, MTR removes the mountain from the coal.” Using the liberal application of high-explosives, that is.
After tough talk on the campaign trail, calling the practice “an environmental disaster”, on June 15th, the President announced the new inter-agency plan. And the heart of that plan, the great environmental safeguard is…a more stringent permitting process. Luckily, you Appalachian mountains that have yet to be blown up, this new permitting process applies to future projects as well.
Commentary:
“Wait, future projects?!” Yes, my tectonically-formed friends, the administration plans to let this practice continue beyond the “500 moutains and 1.2 million acres” already gutted by this thuggish technique. Think of it like a draft lottery! Wee! We haven’t had this much fun since Vietnam.
Every year thousands of people flock to Mt. St. Helens. The place is an awe-inspiring reminder of nature’s destructive power. Even now, 30 years later, millions of bone-white trees lie flat against the face of the mountain, slapped to the ground by the force of the eruption. The caldera still hisses smoke like a pre-1990’s James Bond villain. MTR sites, however, are unlikely to evoke this sort of emotion. Disgust and revulsion maybe, but not awe. Nothing ruins a backpacking trip like emerging through the timberline and finding that some multi-national has nuked the mountain off the face of the earth.
In all seriousness, this is a heart-breaking development. To some, coal is a filthy, pathetic excuse for a fuel, to others it’s a home-grown job creator. But the facts are these: as of 2001 MTR accounted for only 5% of coal production and cost the country nearly 10,000 jobs. Mountain Top Removal is an ugly, barbaric practice that has seen its time.
Creative Solutions:
- Send a letter to President Obama
- Donate your Facebook Status & Tweet This: “@barackobama Mr President, please come to Appalachia & see the devastation of Mountaintop Removal for yourself www.ran.org/obamamtr #MTR”
- Sign the petition at ilovemountains.org and stopmountaintopremoval.org
- Find out your connection to MTR
- Call your representative
- Send a letter to your local representative
- Support the Clean Water Protection Act
- Support the Appalachia Restoration Act and track the bill below
Thank you for speaking out against mountaintop removal.
It is a crime of epic proportions.
Please contact your senators and tell them to support the Appalachia Restoration Act (S. 696) which will ban mountaintop removal.
Agreed! And track the bill here:
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-s696/show
Support Senator Cardin
“Mountaintop mining is one of the most destructive practices that already has destroyed some of America’s most beautiful and ecologically significant regions,” said Senator Ben Cardin, a Maryland Democrat who chairs the Environment and Public Works Water and Wildlife Subcommittee. He sponsored S. 696, the Appalachian Restoration Act.
I just can;t frickin’ believe this. This is nuts.
Great article by Jeff Biggers about MTR: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/sunday-bloggers-act-top-t_b_221976.html
NRDC’s definitive article against MTR:
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/rperks/appalachias_resource_curse.html
Allowing this kind of thing is a disgrace for all of us. It especially is a smack in the face of those of who, while not supporters of Obama, were happy with some of the environmental plans that he was bringing to the table once he was elected. This kind of sliding does not bode well.