rssCardin Also Urges a Full Ban on Mountaintop Mining
Friday, April 02, 2010 at 1:06 pm
- 5 Comments
First it was Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) urging an outright ban on mountaintop mining in lieu of new EPA restrictions. And now Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) is echoing that message, issuing a statement that calls on Congress to take up legislation that would prohibit companies from dumping mine waste in streams altogether.
The [EPA's] guidance for approving mining permits, based on these new scientific studies, will help control the damage caused by mountaintop removal mining. But the science shows us that if we are to truly protect our mountains, streams and the people who depend on them, we must bring the practice of mountaintop removal mining to an end.
Last year, Alexander and Cardin introduced legislation that would classify mining debris as a pollutant, which would force coal companies to truck their mining waste to off-site dumping grounds — something the industry claims would make mountaintop removal economically unfeasible (which, of course, is the whole point of the bill).
Last June, Cardin staged a hearing on the issue, the first of its kind in nearly a decade. At the time, the Maryland Democrat vowed to hold another, though none has yet been planned. The offices of both Cardin and Alexander are closed today for the Easter holiday.
5 Comments
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Comment posted April 3, 2010 @ 4:01 am
Yes folks. So, when our electric bills go up, remember the names Cardin and Alexander. And remember them on election day.
Comment posted April 4, 2010 @ 2:26 pm
It's not often environmentally-minded people like me can laud Republicans like Lamar Alexander to doing the right thing for the earth. His stance against mountaintop removal is shockingly out of character but it is the right one. No human activity is more destructive than mining and none more hideous than mountaintop removal.
As for electric bills going up, all of us need to start more conservation. No more incandescent light, go LEDs. No more ancient electric hog appliances, go energy star. We've converted our household and our bills have gone down! A penny saved is a penny earned, same with kilowatts!
Comment posted April 15, 2010 @ 3:57 pm
remember folks when you have no clean water and have to ship in bottled water, and move somewhere else to have clean air, and pay higher property taxes when people who benefit from this move away by selling you out, leaving like rats from a sinking polluted ship….remember who tried to stop this: GOP and who tried to protect you and your livelihood and your envir and your children envir. etc: Dems…and who sold you out…i.e. party of NO…no to everything except for poisoning streams, ruining envir, hydrology, people's livelihoods EXCEPT big coal…then it is drill baby drill destroy baby destroy
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