"A September 2007 survey conducted by the Civil Society Institute found that 65% of Americans oppose the Bush Administration's proposal "to ease environmental regulations to permit wider use of 'mountain top removal' coal mining in the U.S." The study also found that 74% Americans are opposed to the expansion of MTR coal mining in general, and that 90% of Americans agree that more mining should be permitted only after the United States government has assessed its impacts on safety and the environment."
Several months ago I read a National Geographic article on the brutal practice of “mountain top removal.” I was in turns appalled and furious, to think that we would allow our own shortsightedness and greed to destroy such ecosystems as exist in the
Fast forward to yesterday. Because of Kristine’s indefatigable efforts at promoting the outdoors for everyone to use, and her astute and prescient foresight in making the Outdoor Bloggers Summit a reality, we now have a clearing house where information can be disseminated and shared. Kristine brought to our collective attention a request by Denny of The Backwoods Drifter to take a look at what was happening in his neck of the woods, so to speak.
If you have never seen mountaintop removal, you will be aghast at the level of destruction wrought by man and machines. To think that whole topographic structures are removed from the face of this earth, is almost unfathomable. But don’t take my word for it, see it here, and here, and especially the high resolution photos here.
I found the following at the ILoveMountains website. In order to simplify it for everyone I have reproduced it here. Please follow the directions below and forward this to your Representative.
Honorable (insert name)
I am writing to ask you to become a co-sponsor of the Clean Water Protection Act, H.R. 2169. This bill is critical for protecting the nation’s waters from being polluted and buried by waste created during mountaintop removal coal mining. Mountaintop removal mining involves clear-cutting native hardwood forests, blowing up entire mountaintops, and dumping millions of tons of debris into nearby streams in order to get at coal seams that lie deep beneath the surface. Already, more than 1,000 miles of Appalachian streams have been destroyed by mountaintop removal mining operations.
For 25 years, the Clean Water Act (CWA) allowed for the granting of permits to place “fill material” into waters of the
To stop this devastation of the nation’s waterways, Representatives Frank Pallone and Christopher Shays have introduced the Clean Water Protection Act—a simple piece of legislation that restores the original intent of the Clean Water Act to clarify that fill material cannot be comprised of mining waste.
Passing this legislation would protect all the nation’s rivers, streams, and lakes from being used as garbage dumps for mining waste. It would also help end the destruction of the
Please join scores of other representatives who have sponsored the Clean Water Protection Act. Thank you for your attention to this important issue.
Sincerely,
(Insert your name)
The following is probably the format I will be using when we are making our cases to our government. If someone has any suggestions as to how this can be done more efficiently, I’m all ears.
Again, thanks for taking the time and helping out our fellow sportsmen, and the citizens of our Nation.
Regards,
Albert A Rasch
The Hunt Continues...
