Comments on: Safety of Dozens of Citizens Threatened at “Public Hearing”

By: nellie

nellie — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:22:32 +0000

deranged!

By: Cowgirl in ND

Cowgirl in ND — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:09:18 +0000

One more thing… i forgot to comment on in my previous comment. i believe, just as hate crimes legislation allows for, there is an extreme need in this situation for fed law enforcement to be afforded at these meetings/debates. If the local law enforcement agencies refuse to be and/or can not handle their duties of being, on the side of the abused and threatened by these mobs, then the feds need to step in to be sure that removal of citizenry be the ones who are the abusers not the abused! It is not equitable for a citizen to be removed because they have been accosted, THAT is Un-American to say the least! The accoster is the one commiting a criminal act and thereby should be the one removed by law enforcement…. THAT is the American way: Rule of Law!

By: Cowgirl in ND

Cowgirl in ND — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:47:44 +0000

What a bunch of BS! The “police” protect the thugs and make the legitimate citizens leave? What a sick way to “serve and protect”! i wonder how many of these thugs that are “working” would be so interested in their jobs if they were done as their foreworkers performed these jobs, going underground?????? Safer for the environment, not so much for the worker ants. The coal companies are using these thugs until they’re used up and then they will whine and blame their job loss on the very people that are trying so hard to save them and their children by helping them to get safe, clean, green jobs that will far outlast blowing up their world! These non-critically thinking Americans are just what RayGun and the reich wing nuts wanted and thereby created by taking civics out of our schools and teaching only to tests. The result is this; no critical thinking skills and no thought at all to their future! WE HAVE to turn OUR country and OUR education system around!!!

By: Leon Wood

Leon Wood — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:16:03 +0000

NWP #21 and other nationwide permits are essential to the mining industry. The mining industry must comply with 23 different environmental laws and regulations. Permitting of new or expanded operations is taking years to obtain the necessary permits. With more than 250 coal permits backlogged at the COE, some for two years or longer, the Corp proposes to eliminate one regulatory tool explicitly designed to avoid regulatory duplication and unnecessary delays. The Corp has failed to provide a plan for how the agency will handle the increased regulatory burden. The COE is simply not prepared to handle the increased workload that will result should NWP #21 be abandoned. The COE has provided no scientific or environmental justification for eliminating the use of NWP #21. Further, the COE has provided no evidence of environmental damage or other public interest reason for eliminating the use of this permit, therefore, it appears the decision is driven by politics and not based on any concern with environmental protection. These type of decisions have an impact. The KY Coal industry employs over 17,000 miners and generates over 50,000 jobs in other areas of support. Ky exports 73% of its coal, bringing in over $3.5 Billion dollars into KY. Around 85 cents on each dollar stays here – wages, benefits, operating expenses, royalties, and taxes. The KY Coal Industry paid over $270.0 Million in severance taxes in 2008 in addition to the normal business taxes paid by all KY companies. The total revenue generated by the KY Coal Industry in 2007 was $4.9 Billion dollars. Almost 95 percent of the electric power in Kentucky is coal-fire generated. Kentucky�s electric power costs, in the industrial sector, ranked the lowest in the nation for the fourth consecutive year. Kentucky�s industrial power costs are over 15% lower than any other state east of the Mississippi River and over a third lower than the U.S. average. As a result of these low cost electric rates KY is the 4th largest automaker, 3rd largest Aluminum producer, and the 3rd largest Stainless Steel Producer in the US. Coal drives KY�s Economic Engine. The Obama Administration promised the American Public to make decisions based on Science. These type of decisions to consider elimination of NWP #21 are not science based they are decisions being made to change our energy policy and make us more dependent on Foreign Energy sources and their leaders. The decisions being made today cannot be made lightly these decisions will determine how and where our children and grandchildren live and what future battlefields they will fight and die on. Surface coal mining our past, present and will continue to be our future.