Will Mountaintop Removal Be Coming To An End?

In central Appalachian counties, which are among the poorest in the nation, homes are frequently the only asset folks have. Mining operations have damaged hundreds of homes beyond repair and the value of homes near a mountaintop removal sites often decrease by as much as 90%. Worst of all, MTR is threatening not just the people, forest, and mountains of central Appalachia, but the very culture of the region. Coal companies frequently claim that mountaintop removal is beneficial for the people, economy, and the environment, but the facts just don’t hold up.  *Note* If you click on the “beneficial” link – it’s hilariously void of substance vs. the facts. *Further note* citing loss of coal jobs can be a little misleading because quite a few of those lossed jobs are due to certain regulations

This past Thursday, January 7th, just days after President Obama signed permits with the U.S. EPA’s approval of the expansion of the largest MTR coal mine in West Virginia, prominent national scientists published a blockbuster (and now highly publicized) study which concludes that mountaintop removal’s impacts are “pervasive and irreversible.”

They called on the U.S. government to stop issuing new permits for mountaintop-removal mining in Appalachia saying: “The science is so overwhelming that the only conclusion one can reach is that mountaintop mining needs to be stopped.” A lot of the research cited in support of their claim is the product of dozens of pre-existing scientific papers about the subject of MTR.

Luke Popovich, spokesman for the National Mining Association, said that the conclusions are suspect because they involved a “selective” review of literature. He said that any fair appraisal of mountaintop mining should also include consideration of its benefits, including revenue and high-wage jobs and not just liabilities. (if you’ll recall the links above with me, I’d like to offer a collective “HA!”)

He notes that the industry provides the most affordable fuel for generating electricity and does it in an environmentally responsible way.  He thinks the call for to ban MTR is irresponsible, saying “This is more advocacy than it is science”. To point out one actual positive, it is safer for the actual workers since they don’t have to engage in traditional deep shaft mining. Of course, you’d have to ignore the effects MTR has on the rest of the mining-town community.

In a recent interview the President told the political news organization, Politico, “It’s about listening to what our scientists have to say, even when it’s inconvenient-especially when it’s inconvenient.” Are the voices opposed to blowing the tops off of mountains, voices now thoroughly backed by science, really so inconvenient? Are jaywalking laws that prevent people from walking into oncoming traffic too inconvenient?

West Virginia’s 92-year-old senator Robert Byrd, who has spent much of his career defending the interests of the coal industry and its workers, recently made an impressive public statement. Speaking to the public relations men, politicians and coal industry officials, Byrd said that critics aren’t ‘demonizing coal’ by discussing problems. Those are strong words coming from Senator Byrd.

The group of scientists strongly criticized the insufficient federal and state regulations on MTR and said that “regulators should no longer ignore rigorous science.” Fortunately for my state, on February the 11th there will be a rally on the front steps of the capitol building supporting the end of MTP. There is currently some legislation in the works that will move Kentucky towards that end and with the attendance of some influential state-office holders, the prospects of ending mountaintop removal in the state of Kentucky looks very promising.