POWER POLITICS: The uphill battle against mountaintop removal
During his presidential campaign, Barack Obama spoke critically of mountaintop removal, a mining method that involves blasting off the tops of mountains and dumping the waste into valleys below. During an August 2007 stump speech, for example, Obama made it clear he disapproved of the destructive practice, which so far has leveled more than 470 peaks across Appalachia.
"We're tearing up the Appalachian Mountains because of our dependence on fossil fuels," he told an approving crowd in Lexington, Ky.
But since taking office this year, the Obama administration has sent mixed signals about its stance on mountaintop removal, troubling activists working to stop the destruction.
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re: POWER POLITICS: The uphill battle against mountaintop remova
I don't think anyone was paying attention during the election. I don't recall Obama speaking out against mountaintop removal. Making a statement about what we're doing doesn't equate to demanding an end to it.
What I remember him saying was that "we need to take a look at what it's doing to the environment."
Hell! Any fool can see what it's doing to the environment.
He's not going to end it. He never intended to end it. But there sure were a lot of voters that drank the kool-aid!
re: POWER POLITICS: The uphill battle against mountaintop remova
If anyone, and I mean anyone, should want to see the progess and open for bussiness flat land that Mountaintop mining gives, then make a trip to Mingo County in West Verginia or review the recent news that's been on the Media about our recent flooding, and you will truly see, it is not the way to go! The more Valley's they fill and streams and hollows filled in, then naturaly the more flooding will be immenent. It must be stopped!
re: POWER POLITICS: The uphill battle against mountaintop remova
I am from MD and just recently learned of this mountaintop removal practice and i am completely disgusted that this is happening. is the "green" trend just a facade? how can this be happening in the face of all of this press about going green? the fact that local and state legislators are being bullied by the coal industry, and the fed govt is turning the other way, makes me wonder how anyone who has the power to stop this can sleep at night. not only does it destroy the local Appalachian communities and make it harmful for current and future generations because of contaminated water and flooding, it affects all of us East of the Mississippi. Weather patterns will be forever changed if the Appalachian mountains are flattened. More emphasis needs to be put on alternative forms of energy that are less destructive to our fellow humans (these people are not disposable!) and less destructive to the environment. There are so many other options. Sleep better legislators and do what you know the right thing is to do.
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