Archive for March, 2008
This study tests whether residence in coal mining areas in Appalachia is a contributing factor to lung cancer. After adjusting for factors like smoking, poverty, education, age, sex, race, etc., results show higher rates of lung cancer mortality from 2000 – 20004 in areas of heavy coal mining. The authors state that “the set of socioeconomic and health inequalities characteristic of coal-mining areas of Appalachia highlights the need to develop more diverse, alternative local economies.”
Hendryx, M., K. O’Donnell and K. Horn. (2008) “Lung cancer mortality is elevated in coal-mining areas of Appalachia”. Lung Cancer. 62: 1-7.
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Hendryx found that the mortality rate in coal mining areas is equal to the nationwide mortality rate 24 years ago: “mortality rates for coal mining areas in 2004 are about the same as those for counties outside Appalachia from 1980.” After adjusting for a variety of factors (poverty, smoking, level of education, and race-related effects), coal mining areas of Appalachia still showed significantly higher age-adjusted mortality rates as compared to non-coal mining areas: “Appalachian coal mining areas were characterized by 1,607 excess annual deaths over the period 1999-2004.”
Hendryx, M. (2008) “Mortality rates in Appalachian coal mining counties: 24 years behind the nation”. Environmental Justice. 1, 1: 5-11.
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March 2, 2008 – The following email was sent to 29.807 supporters of iLoveMountains.org. To sign up to receive free email alerts, click here.
Earlier this year, we wrote to tell you how 2008 would be a defining year for the coal industry.
And so far, it’s going quite badly for them.
As the environmental website Grist put it:
Just in the past week, elite opinion against coal has accelerated, two major coal projects have run into embarrassments, and an independent report has confirmed that things are only going to get worse. Now you know why Big Coal has been sponsoring presidential debates, putting Santas on corners around D.C., and pouring millions of dollars into a PR campaign.
The tide is turning against coal because thousands of people like you are making their voices heard in the fight to end mountaintop removal coal mining.
More than 27,000 people have signed up on iLoveMountains.org. And more than 43,000 Americans recently spoke out against a proposed Bush administration rule that would weaken the Stream Buffer Zone (SBZ) rule and pave the way to more mountaintop removal coal mining.
43,000 people. As Carl Shoupe of Harlan County, a member of Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, asks, “How can 43,000 people stand up and speak like we spoke against this destruction and somebody not hear us?”
Well, the truth is — they are hearing us. They’re hearing us in the boardrooms of Big Coal and in the halls of Congress, where your actions have convinced a historic 129 members of Congress to co-sponsor the Clean Water Protection Act (CWPA), which would sharply curtail mountaintop removal coal mining and protect our rivers and streams.
Now, I’d like to personally ask you to join me and make your voice heard in our nation’s capitol.
April 5th- April 9th, 2008 is our 3rd Annual Mountaintop Removal Week in Washington — the chance for people like you from all across the country to meet your representatives and ask them to stop the destructive practice of mountaintop removal coal mining.
Last year’s week in Washington was a tremendous success. More than 100 people from 19 states came to Washington, holding more than 100 meetings with Congressional offices and 20 face-to-face meetings with Members of Congress.
Can you join us this year in Washington? You’ll get to meet and work with other passionate Appalachian activists from around the country; develop and hone your outreach skills in our outreach workshops; attend a congressional reception sponsored by Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey; and meet face to face with legislators to help inspire and educate them to pass legislation to end mountaintop removal coal mining.
To learn more and register for the Week in Washington, click here: http://ilovemountains.org/action/wiw2008 The deadline for registering for this year’s week in Washington is Friday, March 14. So please, sign up today!
PS: If you can’t attend the Week in Washington in person, please consider making a contribution to support a volunteer. Just $35 will cover most meals for one volunteer; $50 will cover a volunteer’s hotel room for one night; while $150 will cover some volunteer’s travel one way. Click here to support a volunteer today.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, March 3, 2008
Contact: Joel Finkelstein, (202) 822-5200
BOONE, NC and WASHINGTON, DC – Advocates for the mountains and coalfield residents today opened a new front in the fight against destructive coal mining, filing suit in Washington, D.C. District Court to stop federal investment in new power plants that would enshrine coal for another generation.
The suit, filed by the North Carolina-based Appalachian Voices and Canary Coalition, states that the federal government shouldn’t be in the business of subsidizing coal plants without knowing the true environmental costs – including impacts of ultra-destructive mountaintop removal coal mining. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 included $1.65 billion in tax incentives for new coal plants, $1 billion of which has been allocated to nine projects around the country.
“The fact is that there’s no such thing as clean coal as long as our mountains are getting clear-cut, blown up and bulldozed down,” said Mary Anne Hitt, Executive Director of Appalachian Voices. “Right now, the electricity that powers your home may well come from mountaintop removal coal. We need fewer coal plants, not more.”
Mountaintop removal coal mining is an extremely destructive form of strip mining found throughout Appalachia, with some mines as big as the island of Manhattan. Coalfield residents say that it tears apart communities, poisons water supplies, pollutes the air and destroys our nation’s natural heritage – while only making the climate crisis worse.
“Members of the Canary Coalition and all people who live, work or vacation in western North Carolina are feeling the impact of existing coal-burning power plants on our health and the environment,” said Avram Friedman, Executive Director of the Canary Coalition. “Asthma related to ozone pollution is the largest cause of absenteeism in our public schools. Emphysema plagues the elderly in this region. Heart and lung disease related to fine particulate sulfur dioxide has been documented by the American Lung Association. We are threatened by tropical diseases migrating north due to global warming caused by carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. The status quo of air quality in western North Carolina is unacceptable. Building and operating a new coal-burning power plant such as Duke Energy’s planned expansion at Cliffside is unacceptable.”
Of the nine experimental coal facilities that have received tax incentives, none have conducted an environmental impact assessment (EIA) looking at the impact of coal on the environment – as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The nine facilities include a Duke Energy projects in Edwardsport, IN and in Rutherford and Cleveland Counties, NC; a Mississippi Power Company project; an E.ON U.S. & Louisville Gas and Electric project in Bedford, KY; a Carson Hydrogen Power project in Carson, CA; a TX Energy project in Longview, TX; a Tampa Electric project in Polk County, FL (that is currently delayed); and two anonymous coal gasification projects.
The effort to end mountaintop removal has been gaining steam over the past year. As of today, the leading Congressional plan to end the practice has 129 co-sponsors – dozens more than last Congress, and only halfway through this session.
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Contact: Joel Finkelstein, (202) 822-5200
BOONE, NC and WASHINGTON, DC – Advocates for the mountains and coalfield residents today opened a new front in the fight against destructive coal mining, filing suit in Washington, D.C. District Court to stop federal investment in new power plants that would enshrine coal for another generation.
The suit, filed by the North Carolina-based Appalachian Voices and Canary Coalition, states that the federal government shouldn’t be in the business of subsidizing coal plants without knowing the true environmental costs – including impacts of ultra-destructive mountaintop removal coal mining. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 included $1.65 billion in tax incentives for new coal plants, $1 billion of which has been allocated to nine projects around the country.
“The fact is that there’s no such thing as clean coal as long as our mountains are getting clear-cut, blown up and bulldozed down,” said Mary Anne Hitt, Executive Director of Appalachian Voices. “Right now, the electricity that powers your home may well come from mountaintop removal coal. We need fewer coal plants, not more.”
Mountaintop removal coal mining is an extremely destructive form of strip mining found throughout Appalachia, with some mines as big as the island of Manhattan. Coalfield residents say that it tears apart communities, poisons water supplies, pollutes the air and destroys our nation’s natural heritage – while only making the climate crisis worse.
“Members of the Canary Coalition and all people who live, work or vacation in western North Carolina are feeling the impact of existing coal-burning power plants on our health and the environment,” said Avram Friedman, Executive Director of the Canary Coalition. “Asthma related to ozone pollution is the largest cause of absenteeism in our public schools. Emphysema plagues the elderly in this region. Heart and lung disease related to fine particulate sulfur dioxide has been documented by the American Lung Association. We are threatened by tropical diseases migrating north due to global warming caused by carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. The status quo of air quality in western North Carolina is unacceptable. Building and operating a new coal-burning power plant such as Duke Energy’s planned expansion at Cliffside is unacceptable.”
Of the nine experimental coal facilities that have received tax incentives, none have conducted an environmental impact assessment (EIA) looking at the impact of coal on the environment – as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The nine facilities include a Duke Energy projects in Edwardsport, IN and in Rutherford and Cleveland Counties, NC; a Mississippi Power Company project; an E.ON U.S. & Louisville Gas and Electric project in Bedford, KY; a Carson Hydrogen Power project in Carson, CA; a TX Energy project in Longview, TX; a Tampa Electric project in Polk County, FL (that is currently delayed); and two anonymous coal gasification projects.
The effort to end mountaintop removal has been gaining steam over the past year. As of today, the leading Congressional plan to end the practice has 129 co-sponsors – dozens more than last Congress, and only halfway through this session.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, March 3, 2008
Contact: Joel Finkelstein, (202) 822-5200
Mountaintop Advocates Open New Front in Fight Against Coal
Challenge Billion-Dollar Government Giveaways for Not Considering Cost to the Mountains
BOONE, NC and WASHINGTON, DC — Advocates for the mountains and coalfield residents today opened a new front in the fight against destructive coal mining, filing suit in Washington, D.C. District Court to stop federal investment in new power plants that would enshrine coal for another generation.
The suit, filed by the North Carolina-based Appalachian Voices and Canary Coalition, states that the federal government shouldn’t be in the business of subsidizing coal plants without knowing the true environmental costs – including impacts of ultra-destructive mountaintop removal coal mining. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 included $1.65 billion in tax incentives for new coal plants, $1 billion of which has been allocated to nine projects around the country.
“The fact is that there’s no such thing as clean coal as long as our mountains are getting clear-cut, blown up and bulldozed down,” said Mary Anne Hitt, Executive Director of Appalachian Voices. “Right now, the electricity that powers your home may well come from mountaintop removal coal. We need fewer coal plants, not more.”
Mountaintop removal coal mining is an extremely destructive form of strip mining found throughout Appalachia, with some mines as big as the island of Manhattan. Coalfield residents say that it tears apart communities, poisons water supplies, pollutes the air and destroys our nation’s natural heritage – while only making the climate crisis worse.
“Members of the Canary Coalition and all people who live, work or vacation in western North Carolina are feeling the impact of existing coal-burning power plants on our health and the environment,” said Avram Friedman, Executive Director of the Canary Coalition. “Asthma related to ozone pollution is the largest cause of absenteeism in our public schools. Emphysema plagues the elderly in this region. Heart and lung disease related to fine particulate sulfur dioxide has been documented by the American Lung Association. We are threatened by tropical diseases migrating north due to global warming caused by carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. The status quo of air quality in western North Carolina is unacceptable. Building and operating a new coal-burning power plant such as Duke Energy’s planned expansion at Cliffside is unacceptable.”
Of the nine experimental coal facilities that have received tax incentives, none have conducted an environmental impact assessment (EIA) looking at the impact of coal on the environment – as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The nine facilities include a Duke Energy projects in Edwardsport, IN and in Rutherford and Cleveland Counties, NC; a Mississippi Power Company project; an E.ON U.S. & Louisville Gas and Electric project in Bedford, KY; a Carson Hydrogen Power project in Carson, CA; a TX Energy project in Longview, TX; a Tampa Electric project in Polk County, FL (that is currently delayed); and two anonymous coal gasification projects.
The effort to end mountaintop removal has been gaining steam over the past year. As of today, the leading Congressional plan to end the practice has 129 co-sponsors – dozens more than last Congress, and only halfway through this session.
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