News
700 More Mountains to Be Destroyed Under New Bush Admin Rule?
Friday, October 5th, 2007
Oct 5th, 2007 – The following email was sent to over 22,000 supporters of iLoveMountains.org. To sign up to receive free email alerts, click here.
We last wrote to tell you about a new rule proposed by the Bush Administration’s Office of Surface Mining (OSM) that would legalize and expand the worst abuses of mountaintop removal.
If adopted, the new regulation would exempt coal companies from a law that prohibits surface coal mining activities from disturbing areas within 100 feet of streams.
Changing this “buffer zone rule” would destroy thousands of miles of our nation’s mountain streams and accelerate the growth of moutaintop removal coal mining — destroying another 700 mountains over the next decade, according to one estimate.
But today, you have the opportunity to make your voice heard and to stand with thousands of others who are opposing the Bush administration’s proposed rule. The OSM today announced that they are extending the period for the public to comment on the propsed rule until November 24th.
We need you — and the mountains we all love need you — to take just a moment out of your day today to tell the OSM that you oppose relaxing environmental regulations for the benefit of coal companies — and to tell Congress that they need to take an active leadership role in protecting our mountains and streams.
Click here to send a message to the Office of Surface Mining and your Senators and Representative:
http://ilovemountains.org/action/sbz
There’s little doubt that this proposed rule is a lame-duck effort by the Bush administration to give a parting gift to its friends in the coal industry, by enshrining the worst abuses of mountaintop removal coal mining into law.
But the rule flies in the face of both ecological common sense (burying mountain streams with mining waste is clearly a bad idea) and public opinion.
A major national poll last month found that a strong majority of Americans — 65% — oppose the Bush Administration rule change, which would ease environmental protections and expand mountaintop removal coal mining.
As The New York Times pointed out in a major editorial, “the situation cries out for Congressional intervention to define once and for all what mining companies can and cannot do.”
But Congress will only act if they hear from you. Please, take just a moment of your day to tell the OSM and your representatives to protect our streams and mountains — not fatten the wallets of Dirty Coal:
http://ilovemountains.org/action/sbz
The poll mentioned above demonstrates what we already know: the American public and our American values favor protecting our mountains, not destroying them.
According to the poll, nearly 9 out of 10 people (88%) agree that “Before the United States puts in place new regulations to permit more coal mining, it should first make sure that coal mines and coal mining practices are safe for miners, nearby communities and the environment.”
But another finding from the poll also shows why we have our work cut out for us: less than half of Americans — 45% –said that they had heard of mountaintop removal coal mining.
That’s why your help in spreading the word makes such a difference. So please, take an extra moment today to send this email on to your friends and family and ask them to join us. They can sign on to iLoveMountains or you can invite them through your personal action page by clicking here:
http://www.iLoveMountains.org/take_action/
Thanks to your efforts, more than 22,000 people have joined us in defending the mountains we love.
But today, with the Bush administration’s proposed rule meaning that up to 700 mountains are under threat, we need your voice more than ever:
http://ilovemountains.org/action/sbz
Thank you for speaking up and taking action.
Mary Anne Hitt
iLoveMountains.org
P.S. – Our hero, Larry Gibson, is in the running as one of America’s favorite CNN Heroes. CNN will honor their heroes during a live, global broadcast in December, and the winner of online voting will receive special recognition at that time.
Go to this site and vote for our hero – Larry Gibson – and dont forget to tell your friends and family to do the same! Voting ends Sunday, Oct 7th.
