I am starting to think that the reason Republicans have been so easily bought off by polluters is because they hate the environment.
If you think this is a radical accusation, think about the rule that's going to be published in the Federal Register tomorrow which enshrines the practice of slicing off the tops of entire mountains.
You can't possibly have any appreciation for the role that the environment plays in sustaining life on earth and let this kind of thing go on. Obviously Bush does not, because he and his cronies have just given this little parting gift to the most rapacious actors in the coal mining industry today.
In a front page article which has a nice accompanying graphic that illustrates exactly how mountaintop removal is done, the NY Times explains that the new regulation will enshrine this type of coal mining.
The article tells why coal companies like to do this:
Roughly half the coal in West Virginia is from mountaintop mining, which is generally cheaper, safer and more efficient than extraction from underground mines like the Crandall Canyon Mine in Utah, which may have claimed the lives of nine miners and rescuers, and the Sago Mine in West Virginia, where 12 miners were killed last year...
Hmmmm, safer for whom? Not only does this mining practice entail removing the entire tops of mountains, but it also means that incredible amounts of waste are dumped into local streams.
From 1985 to 2001, 724 miles of streams were buried under mining waste, according to the environmental impact statement accompanying the new rule.
If current practices continue, another 724 river miles will be buried by 2018...
The destruction is going on on a massive scale, and is destroying communities along with the mountains in Appalachia. According to the End Mountaintop Removal Action Center:
Mountaintop removal is devastating hundreds of square miles of Appalachia; polluting the headwaters of rivers that provide drinking water to millions of Americans; and destroying a distinctly American culture that has endured for generations.
And, according to the same website, here's how we got into the current situation, thanks, of course to the Bush Administration:
For 25 years, the Clean Water Act (CWA) allowed for the granting of permits to place "fill material" into waters of the United States, provided that the primary purpose of the "filling" was not for waste disposal. As such, the CWA prohibited mountaintop removal operations from using the nation's waterways as waste disposal sites. That changed in 2002, when the Army Corps of Engineers, under the direction of the Bush administration and without congressional approval, altered its longstanding definition of "fill material" to include mining waste. This change accelerated the devastating practice of mountaintop removal coal mining and the destruction of more than 1,000 miles of Appalachian streams.
This is a complete environmental disaster, and just the latest thing the Bush has done that has given me so much outrage fatigue!
Here's a little three-minute plug for that organization that gives a little history of mining and mountaintop removal:
Here's a more first-hand account that explains the situation:
RFK Jr. has a nice article on this here
You can see the particular mountains that have been destroyed by looking at this online national memorial.
You may ask, "why this now?" It may have something to do with a bill called the Clean Water Protection Act (H.R. 2169) which now has 93 sponsors.
If enacted, the law would protect the water downstream from these coal "mines," which would force the industry to curtail these practices. So, maybe Bush wanted to enshrine the practice if this bill ever gets to his desk.
I always advocate following the money, so go here to see long term contribution trends by political party to see exactly how much MORE the coal industry has given to Republicans over the years. Also check out the the top 20 recipients of coal industry money for 2006, and note who lost the last election (can't buy off the voters themselves, it seems).
I want my mountains back!! This is the destruction of a public good that sustains life, as well as a complete disregard for the human beings who live in the affected communities.
I wish I didn't have to wait for 2008 for some of these outrages to stop!