appalachia

The collision between environmental protection and coal extraction is nothing new to the Appalachian states, which are home to some of the largest coal deposits in the world. But in the middle of an unemployment crisis — and with a new administration showing signs of cracking down harshly on the destructive practice of mountaintop removal [...]

As Kate pointed out a few weeks back, the Environmental Protection Agency earlier this month stalled 79 applications for new surface mines in the Appalachian Mountains, citing concerns that those operations would harm local water quality. Today, the agency went a step further, announcing in a letter to the U.S. Corps of Engineers that all [...]

The EPA just issued a statement announcing that they have extended the review period for 79 surface mining permit applications in Appalachia. This means that the permits will not be streamlined for approval, and is in accordance with the Obama administration’s memorandum issued in June to subject coal-mining permits to greater scrutiny.
“The administration pledged earlier [...]

Whatever else there is to be said about mountaintop mining (and there’s plenty), no one can deny that it makes a place ugly. How could it not? The technique involves the blasting away of mountain peaks to get at the coal inside, leaving oceans of bare dirt and rock that resemble the surface of the [...]

Speaking of regional protectionism, Rep. Nick Rahall (D. – W. Va.) held a press conference today to unveil the news that the Environmental Protection Agency, after reviewing applications for 48 new coal mining operations in Appalachia, intends to allow 42 to proceed. While its unclear how many of those 42 are mountaintop mines — operations [...]

Speaking of House seats … the math geek readers of Swing State Project have released their latest round of data on congressional districts, calculating the respective vote tallies for President Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain in almost every district in California, Ohio, Texas, and Pennsylvania. An analysis of which districts voted for George W. [...]

Amid much criticism that banks are refusing to lend for reasons of profit, one bank is refusing to lend for reasons of principle.
Bank of America on Wednesday announced that it will phase out its financing for companies that focus on mountaintop coal mining. That process — in which miners blast the tops off of mountains [...]

In a last-minute genuflection to the mining industry, the Bush administration yesterday finalized its contentious plan to lift restrictions on mine-debris disposal, allowing companies to fill valleys and streams with the waste from their operations.
The change is of particular threat to Appalachia, where coal miners have adopted the practice of blasting the tops off of [...]