Archive for March, 2010
As always, Ken Ward Jr. at the Charleston Gazette (in West Virginia) is the first to write about some great news. We reprinted part of his post below, so please read his great blog for the rest of the story.
“Breaking news: EPA issues ‘proposed determination’ to block Clean Water Act permit for the largest mountaintop removal mine in W.Va. history”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency just issued its “proposed determination” to block the Clean Water Act permit for the Spruce No. 1 Mine in Logan County, the largest mountaintop removal permit in West Virginia history.
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As I explained in an earlier post, this EPA notice starts another long process of review and debate — including a mandatory public hearing if EPA finds a significant degree of public interest — before EPA would actually veto the permit.
Read the rest of the story on Ken’s blog, CoalTattoo.
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The following email was sent to the 40,600 supporters of iLoveMountains.org. To sign up to receive free email alerts, click here.
We’re pleased to tell you that last week’s 5th Annual Week in Washington was an amazing success! Because of the hard work of people like you — who called and emailed their representatives in support of the more than 200 citizen lobbyists on the ground in D.C. — we have brought the number of co-sponsors to 10 in the Senate and 167 in the House, including recent additions Mike Quigley and Bill Foster from Illinois, and Republican Bob Inglis from South Carolina.
The diligent and persuasive citizen lobbyists who came to D.C. from all over the country held more than 150 scheduled meetings and over 200 drop-in visits with House, Senate, and Federal agency Representatives. (You can check out pictures from this year’s Week in Washington on our Flickr account.)
Everybody who contacted their representatives, went to Washington, or made a financial contribution to support our efforts in D.C. made a tremendous difference. We are already seeing the waves of everyone’s work ripple through the Executive and Legislative Branches of government, bringing signs of hope that the days of mountaintop removal coal mining are numbered.
Now, let’s keep that momentum going by growing our movement in the coming weeks. Here’s what you can do:
- Take few moments to visit your Personal Action Page and invite your friends and family to join you on iLoveMountains.org.
- If you haven’t already done so, become a fan of iLoveMountains on Facebook or follow us on Twitter — then retweet or suggest to friends that they do the same.
- Consider giving a presentation or showing a film about mountaintop removal to your friends, family, church, classmates, or any other audience you can think of. We have a free Living Room kit that makes hosting an event easy. Interested in learning more?. Contact Stephanie@iLoveMountains.org or call 917.664.5511.
- Set up an iLoveMountains.org outreach table at markets, festivals, your church, or other public venues. We have a tabling kit we can send you for free, as well as other items you can order. Contact Stephanie@iLoveMountains.org to learn more.
Every effort you make to recruit a friend or neighbor — whether on Facebook or in your community — strengthens our ability to show Congress that Americans are eager for an end to mountaintop removal coal mining.
Thank you for everything you do to spread the word and to keep the pressure on Congress.
Matt Wasson
iLoveMountains.org
P.S. – Donate to iLoveMountains.org at the $50 level or higher to receive a free copy of Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore’s Dear Companion CD! The 1st 100 to donate at the $75 level will also receive a free autographed poster.
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Tennessee’s six candidates for Governor have expressed widely differing opinions about mountaintop removal in the state. All agree that the mountains, especially those in and around the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, are a huge tourist draw for the state. The debate among the candidates seems to be whether or not true mountaintop removal is happening in Tennessee.
In an a March 14 forum for the Chattanooga Times-Free Press, the candidates were all asked to explain their positions on a number of topics including mountaintop removal. Their responses and the full article can be found here.
In a March 17 editorial, the Times-Free Press said “Tennessee’s future quality of life and the land we bequeath to our children depend on good governance in our highest state offices. There’s no room for ignorance or misguided policies there.” The paper’s editor’s called on the candidates to become better informed about mountaintop removal and its effects on Tennessee’s people and environment. Read the full editorial.
Zeb Mountain is one example of mountaintop removal in East Tennessee. Find out more about the environment and communities effected.
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Just a reminder to you busy folks on the go…. you can get updates from our blog and Twitter feed here:
http://ilovemountains.org/news/rss
http://feeds.feedburner.com/MTRintheBlogosphere
http://twitter.com/welovemountains
Tweeting from the mountains, for the mountains.
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On March 9 the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) released a report that found approximately 333,000 new jobs could be created in 2010, and another 184,000 in 2011. According to Steve Nadal, the group’s Executive Director, federal provisions for efficiency improvement programs are “labor intensive and net job creators. These programs would produce more construction and service-sector jobs than those energy sector jobs lost from reduced energy consumption.”
The group has submitted three proposals to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment. These proposals call for provisions to stimulate projects that ACEEE is ready to act on immediately. Nadal said, “These provisions would represent good investments in three important sectors of the U.S. economy: improving productivity, creating jobs, and leveraging government, consumer, and business funds in the best way possible.”
Most of the jobs created would be in labor and construction, retrofitting commercial and residential buildings with energy-efficient technology. More demand would be created for the products used in these retrofits, creating more manufacturing jobs as well. “In addition,” Nadal said, “these programs would continue creating small numbers of jobs even after the stimulus period is over, because energy bill savings enable consumers and businesses to spend that money elsewhere in the economy.”
Read the full report and detailed proposals.
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At their March 3 show at Grimey’s record store in Nashville, TN, musicians Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore were interviewed by Love in Stereo, a group dedicated to bringing artists and fans together to promote social innovation. Love in Stereo stopped in to ask the musicians about the tour, their music, and raising awareness about mountaintop removal coal mining.
The three videos on the Love in Stereo website feature interviews with Sollee and Moore, as well as fantastic live performances of their songs including “My Wealth Comes to Me” and “Something, Somewhere, Sometime”. If you haven’t had the pleasure of seeing the Dear Companion tour live yet, these videos are a must see.
Find out more about non-profit group Love in Stereo.
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In November of 2009, North Carolina utility provider Progress Energy quietly decided not to renew its membership in the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE.) Though it was once one of ACCCE’s biggest contributors, paying $1 million in 2008, Progress officials decided that the group no longer fits into the utility’s agenda.
ACCCE has seen similar departures from energy giants Duke Energy and Alstrom. The coalition was no stranger to controversy in 2009. A paid contractor for the group was found to have forged 13 letters to members of Congress lobbying against a coal cap-and-trade bill. Shortly after, one of the group’s Vice Presidents allegedly lied under oath about ACCCE’s past position on the bill. Read more about this controversy.
Progress officials continue to move towards energy generated by natural gas instead of coal. They recently announced the closure of 11 coal-fired plants in 2010.
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Instead of interviewing only corporate CEO’s and clean tech innovators, it’s time for Friedman to come down to the dusty soil and interview coal miners, afflicted residents and farmers and children in the coalfields, and the millions of people who are paying the price for many of these so-called “clean energy” alternatives.
-Jeff Biggers, in a recent column for the Huffington Post.
Friedman, in a recent column, quoted a Peabody Energy official as saying that with a new burning process in place, “coal-fired power would become more than 100 percent clean.” While this technological innovation may reduce emissions around coal-fired power plants, heralding it as a complete solution totally ignores the health, economic and environmental problems of communities where coal mining occurs.
Friedman’s column is an example of the huge blindspot in the “clean coal” rhetoric, and of an unwillingness to look at the entire life cycle of coal-fired power. It promotes a “solution” that in reality would only increase the daily suffering of people in coal-mining areas. Biggers wrote, “Instead of continuing the staggering human and environmental costs of coal for another century, you would think Tom Friedman–and our nation–would pursue truly clean energy alternatives today.”
Read Jeff Biggers’ Huffington Post article.
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On February 23rd, Martin County Coal Company reported to the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection that a spill had occurred in Coldwater Creek. An unknown amount of slurry has leached into the creek, and clean up crews are working to contain the spill. Water levels have not risen, but Martin County resident Mickey McCoy said ” we just got a mainline injection of toxic heavy metals into our creek”.
Martin County Kentucky is no stranger to the dangers posed by coal slurry dams. In 2000, a slurry dam broke inundating two forks of the Tug River with over 300 million gallons of toxic sludge. This spill was thirty times the size of the Exxon Valdez Spill, and at the time the EPA called it one of the worst environmental disasters to occur in the Southeast.
Hear Mickey McCoy talk about the latest slurry spill.
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In his weekly commentary, West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd recently cited many reasons to protect the mountains in his state. He listed numerous Biblical references to mountains and the sacred events that happened there, and called them beautiful and serene.
“Majestic, inspiring, and, at times, intimidating,” he wrote, “our mountains remind us of the glory of the view after the challenge of the climb. Perhaps that is why West Virginians retain a stalwart and independent character, always inspired by possibilities and undaunted by difficulties.”
Read Senator Byrd’s entire commentary.
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