America’s oldest mountains are being decimated, and after decades of abetment, Congress is finally watching with more critical eyes.
In a Senate hearing on mountaintop mining last week, lawmakers called for an end to the popular and lucrative practice of topping the Appalachian Mountains to tap the coal inside.
That More…
The Obama administration on Thursday announced steps to alleviate the environmental damage done by mountaintop coal mining in the Appalachian states, vowing stricter scrutiny of proposed mines, stronger oversight of existing projects and — further in the future — new regulations to protect local waterways and More…
Bouncing around the InterWeb, one might get curious about what exactly mountaintop removal involves. And so one might do a Google on “mountaintop mining.” And one might click on the first link, which is an industry-sponsored site called mountaintopmining.com. And there one would read interesting statements claiming that More…
Despite renewed vows to protect Appalachian waterways from the ravages of mountaintop coal mining, the Environmental Protection Agency has recently authorized a number of pending mountaintop permits that will bury dozens of streams in the nation’s oldest mountain range. The move has left mining supporters cheering the federal endorsement of More…
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 More…
The Obama administration today announced plans to abandon a controversial last-minute Bush-era rule that made it easier for mining companies to fill valleys and streams with the debris from their mountain-topping operations.
From an Interior Department statement:
Under the Bush rule, coal mine operators are able to dispose of
Just a few weeks after the Army Corps of Engineers approved a controversial mountaintop mine in Kentucky without a peep from the Environmental Protection Agency, the EPA has urged the Corps to revoke the permit for another enormous mountaintop project in Southwest Virginia, citing fears of “significant degradation” to More…
OK, so maybe elections don’t matter so much.
The Environmental Protection Agency, which yesterday proclaimed the likelihood that several mountaintop mining projects in Kentucky and West Virginia would ruin local streams in defiance of the Clean Water Act, clarified last night that its plans to scrutinize those More…
Yes, elections do matter.
Putting a quick halt to an Orwellian Bush administration rule allowing mining companies to kill mountain streams, the Environmental Protection Agency this afternoon announced that it will delay hundreds of mining permits while it takes a closer look at how the operations will More…
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 More…
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