News
Mountain Monday: President Obama’s First 100 Days
Monday, December 1st, 2008
President Bush will leave a sad legacy in Appalachia. One of the few things to expand during his time in office was the use of a barbaric and devastating form of coal-mining called mountaintop removal. This practice in which mountains are blasted apart and recklessly dumped into the adjacent valleys has destroyed over 1 million acres of America’s oldest mountain range. During a time of crushing drought, we have polluted and completely buried up to 2000 miles of our best headwater streams. Coal-mining jobs have been lost and communities left in poverty, while our investments in wind and energy efficiency languish.
Well, fortunately for us, change is coming.
Recognizing the collective desire for action on all of our own key issues, we hope that health advocates, renewable energy activists, fiscal conservatives, national security hawks, and ardent environmentalists will join the collective call from Appalachia and from around the nation to protect the universal human rights of health, safety, and dignity and join Appalachian Voices and iLoveMountains.org in asking President Obama to take immediate action to stop mountaintop removal coal-mining.
Mountaintop removal coal-mining is truly one of the worst human rights and environmental tragedies of the 21st century. It will also go down as one of the many embarrassing legacies of the Bush Administration. Just last week, in the 11th hour, the Bush Administration was able to effectively repeal the Stream Buffer Zone rule, which was one of our last legal protections against the destruction of Appalachian streams. Overturning this rule change will be an important first step for President Obama come January.
We wanted you to be the first to know that this Wednesday iLoveMountains.org be launching a campaign to have Senator Obama end mountaintop removal within his first 100 days in office. The steps he can take are simple.
Reverse the Bush Mine Waste Giveaways: The Bush Administration has effectively repealed the Stream Buffer Zone and (in 2002) changed the definition of “fill material” to include toxic mining waste. President Obama should overturn these Bush-era policies that allow for our streams to be polluted and buried by toxic waste.
Enforce the Law: The coal industry has routinely ignored the Clean Water Act and the Stream Buffer Zone Rule. President Obama should demand that these and other rules be enforced, and hold the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation, and Enforcement (OSMRE), and the Army Corps of Engineers accountable, and appointments leaders in these organizations which “believe in the environment.”
Urge Congress to Pass the Clean Water Protection Act: The Clean Water Protection Act is necessary to both permanently protect clean drinking water for many of our nation’s cities and to protect Appalachian coalfield residents who face frequent catastrophic flooding and pollution as a result of mountaintop removal.
Include Appalachia in America’s Clean Energy Future: Some mountaintops in Appalachia have huge wind power potential and would be more beneficial in that regard than as flattened landscape. President Obama should make Environmental Impact Assessments and economic analyses mandatory as part of his New Energy for America Plan. With finite and declining coal reserves and jobs, President Obama needs to ensure Appalachia receives attention and support in the Administration’s new energy plan that includes $5 million dollars invested in green jobs.
Please join the people of Appalachia in this historic effort by signing up for iLoveMountains.org as we work with the new Administration to bring morning to Appalachia.
You can also join the facebook group Obama 1st 100 days: End Mountaintop Removal!
Thats all for today. Hope yall had a great thanksgiving 🙂
peace,
JW
March 26th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
What will the families of the surface miners do if they end mountain top removal? What about the maintenace workers for the equipment? What will we do when we run out of room to grow? What will happen to our economy? Mountain top removal may be dirty and nasty while the project is going on but afterwards they leave habital land for housing and businesses. Isn’t that what we want? More businesses to come in. They families will starve or turn to other means of raising money. Say for instance, selling drugs. Put men out of work and more drugs on the streets. That sounds like a spectacular idea to me. People need to think of both sides before trying to ruin peoples lives in which case environmentalist are doing.
April 28th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
AMEN!!! The land after it is finished is beautiful usable land for wildlife as well as farm animals to roam on. All these people are trying to do is make a name for themselves…well I have a name for them, how about —holes who dont know what the heck they are talking about!
April 28th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
I work in the coal industry and I’m telling you right now that if Obama passes all the laws that he says he is going to pass, well, they can kiss the economy of KY goodbye! I’ve said all along that Obama was going to be the downfall of this country and he is proving me right!!! People need to open their eyes and stop believing people like Ashley Judd, has she ever been on top of one of our mountains that have been completed? Doubtful! If she has then she would definetely say that it is beautiful and usable land!!! She needs to stay in Hollywood! No, she ain’t worth nothing there either…