rssTennessee Republican Calls for Eliminating, Not Just Restricting, Mountaintop Mining
Friday, April 02, 2010 at 11:56 am
- 17 Comments
Environmentalists might be applauding the Obama administration’s new restrictions on mountaintop coal mining as the most significant step the government has ever taken to rein in the practice. But don’t tell that to Sen. Lamar Alexander. The Tennessee Republican is calling for a full ban (not just tighter limits) on the dumping of mining waste into Appalachian streams — a prohibition that Tennessee has had on the books for years.
Conveniently, Alexander has a bill that would do just that. The legislation, which is co-sponsored by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), would redefine mining waste as a pollutant, thus barring companies from dumping debris into valleys below their mountaintop projects. The idea is that if it becomes too expensive to truck the debris off-site, then companies will stop blowing up mountains altogether.
“The new EPA guidelines are useful in stopping some inappropriate coal mining in Appalachia but Congress still needs to pass the Cardin-Alexander legislation that would effectively end mountaintop removal mining,” Alexander said in a statement issued Thursday. “By mountaintop removal, we mean blowing the tops off of mountains and dumping the waste in streams.”
Such statements put Alexander at odds with a number of Appalachian lawmakers, who view any new environmental protections in coal country as a threat to jobs in the region. But there’s good reason why Alexander has adopted his position. Tennessee is home to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, by far the most visited national park in the country. Last year, nearly 9.5 million people visited the Great Smoky, compared to 4.3 million visitors to the Grand Canyon, which ranks second.
Considering those tourism numbers, Tennessee’s lawmakers have no interest in wrecking the same mountains that are drawing those people in. Indeed, they’ve discovered a way to create sustainable local jobs without poisoning their waters and communities.
“Coal is an essential part of our energy future,” Alexander said, ”but it is not necessary to destroy our mountaintops in order to have enough coal to meet our needs.”
17 Comments
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Comment posted April 2, 2010 @ 7:39 pm
There is no coal in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, so the idea that Lamar is proposing the legislation to protect those mountains is invalid.
Pingback posted April 3, 2010 @ 1:39 am
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Comment posted April 3, 2010 @ 3:14 am
Absolutely right. Thx Senator! You give Tennessee hope to end MTR.
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[...] Tennessee Republican Calls for Eliminating, Not Just Restricting, Mountaintop Mining « The Was… [...]
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[...] author gives a shout out to the work of Appalachian Voices, Mike Lillis at the Washington Independent, and activist Denny Tyler: “The pressure group Appalachian [...]
Comment posted August 2, 2010 @ 6:25 pm
Robert is right: Great Smoky Mts have a very different geology. But Sen. Alexander probably knows that. (The writer of the article made the connection.) It's the Cumberland Mts that are threatened by mountaintop removal. This area could become an attractive alternative to the overcrowded Smokies. Some 135,000 acres are already semi-protected in the North Cumberland Wildlife Managment Area. “Semi” because the mineral rights are owned separately, by TVA and National Coal Corp. Sen. Alexander is probably also aware that the total number of people employed in coal mining in Tennessee is only slightly over 600, while the number who could be employed in Cumberlands tourism, sustainable forestry, whitewater rafting, fishing, hunting etc etc could easily rise into the thousands.
Comment posted May 6, 2011 @ 4:13 am
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Comment posted June 30, 2011 @ 9:16 am
t’s a great question, and one asked, in various ways, throughout this
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Comment posted June 30, 2011 @ 1:00 pm
By mountaintop removal, we mean blowing the tops off of mountains and dumping the waste in streams
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