This diary is a companion to Faithfull's diary titled, "Gore: Mountaintop removal is a crime."
The fact is you have to MAKE it into a crime. This is a practice so perverse that even states that regulate mining don't have statutes adequate to protect from MTR (mountaintop removal). Needless to say, at the federal level, the Bush team is dedicated to making sure coal mining regs are gutted, not improved.
The states must lead the charge on this issue. Tennesseans, you may not know that we fact new threats of MTR, and that there has been action in this legislative session in 2008 to make MTR illegal.
I will not detail out the atrocious effects MTR has on water, air, habitat, and every aspect of the environment, because that was done in Faithfull's diary. But if you live in TN, you have a chance to act locally to make MTR illegal. Follow below the jump...
If you live in TN, your state legislature is about to end its session in a couple of weeks. This was a very hot issue in the House and Senate Environment Committees, and your comments can still matter.
Let your reps and Gov. Bredesen know that you strongly support SB 3822, "The Scenic Vistas Act," even though it won't make it through to a floor vote in 2008. Right now, there is hope this bill will gather enough momentum to live on and pass into the 2009 session. It has gained new life, and its prospects are hopeful--if Tennesseans raise a ruckus about MTR.
If any of your reps. are on the House or Senate Environment committee (especially those dirty dogs on the House subcommittee), you need to really unload on them about this. Scold the foes, praise the friends (see end of this post).
The Backstory: In early 2008, National Coal Co. made a big play to move into 6 counties in upper East TN and on the Cumberland Plateau (which is one of NRDC's "Biogems"). TN currently has no regulatory structure dealing with mountaintop removal mining (MTR). National was in a big rush, hoping to get dug in before anybody noticed -- and also to get 'er done while BushCo and cronies are still ensuring that nothing bad will happen to coal companies at the national level, no matter what atrocities they perform.
A huge effort at grassroots protest was mounted by LEAF, a faith-based enviro group out of Knoxville. (They basically think God will smite us for blowing up our homeland like this.) All other TN-based enviro groups, plus clean air advocates of other sorts, quickly signed on.
But it didn't look good, because we have a Repub dominated legislature, with Environment & Conservation committees staffed by free market and property rights fanatics, plus more very pro-business types. A very hostile environment, to put it mildly.
Senator Raymond Finney, Republican from Maryville, became the bill's Senate sponsor. (He's a rightwinger, but he buys the idea that God will smite us for MTR.) Sen. Finney fought hard to keep a bill that had NO support alive, fought the hostility of his fellow Repubs, and then fought on some more to help it gather momentum. Rep. Mike McDonald is now the House sponsor, even though the House Environment Subcommittee killed it. (McDonald is not on the committee, just a friend of the environment.) But it had begun to dawn on legislators that there was grassroots rage behind this bill and it would not be DOA.
The House Environment Committee voted to kill the bill, but the Senate Committee voted overwhelmingly to pass it. The Governor also made his support known. Thus, the bill will go to a summer "study session" and IF THERE IS ENOUGH PUBLIC SUPPORT, will come back again in the 2009 session.
Here are the committees plus emails--I will note whether they were friend or foe to 3822, designed to regulate MTR (out of existence). Note that many of these people changed their minds, after hearing about the impact of the bill.
Some of these folks will be standing for re-election in 2008. Tennesseans, let's defeat those who want to let the coal companies blow up our mountains.
House SubCommittee
rep.frank.buck@legislature.state.tn.us (chair) FRIEND
rep.john.tidwell@legislature.state.tn.us: FOE
rep.brenda.gilmore@legislature.state.tn.us: FRIEND
rep.william.baird@legislature.state.tn.us FOE
rep.george.fraley@legislature.state.tn.us FOE
rep.david.hawk@legislature.state.tn.us LEFT DURING VOTE--chicken!
rep.mike.kernell@legislature.state.tn.us FRIEND
rep.frank.niceley@legislature.state.tn.us FOE
rep.joe.mccord@legislature.state.tn.us FOE X 2
Senate Committee
sen.tommy.kilby@legislature.state.tn.us (chair) FOE
sen.dewayne.bunch@legislature.state.tn.us FRIEND
sen.doug.jackson@legislature.state.tn.us FRIEND X 2
sen.raymond.finney@legislature.state.tn.us FRIEND/SPONSOR
sen.roy.herron@legislature.state.tn.us FRIEND
sen.bill.ketron@legislature.state.tn.us FRIEND
sen.steve.roller@legislature.state.tn.us FRIEND
sen.steve.southerland@legislature.state.tn.us FRIEND
sen.mike.williams@legislature.state.tn.us FRIEND
TO LEARN MORE: See these links:
www.tnleaf.org<a</p>
www.tnconservationvoters.org
www.socm.org