Redstate

By j-dub Posted in Archived — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

I was pleased to see that Republican for Environmental Protection has endorsed this bill, which would reverse the Administration's 2002 decision that the toxic "waste" created by mountatintop removal coal-mining could be classified as "fill material" and dumped into our headwater streams here in Appalachia.

Stopping mountaintop removal has enormous popular support . I am originally from the mountains of Tennessee, but I've come to work on this bill on the Hill. Appalachian Voices and I have spent a lot of time in the mountains talking to conservatives, Republicans, liberals, Democrats, and Independents, and a vast majority agree that we should be repulsed by what they see happening with mountaintop removal. Folks are especially concerned by the toxic rubble that the companies are dumping into their drinking water supplies when creating "valleyfills."

You could consider it an environmental bill, but it also helps protect the health and quality of life for the Appalachian people. Economically, it gives us a chance to diversify, and set up long-term engines like tourism and manufacturing.

Thanks to the six current Republican co-sponsors of the CWPA:
Wayne Gilchrest (MD-01)
John McHugh (NY-23)
Todd Platts (PA-19)
Mark Kirk (IL-10)
Frank Wolf (VA-10)
Chris Shays (CT-04)

We can do better mining coal than to just blow the tops off the mountains and dump the rubble in the valleys. It puts people out of work, has negligible effect on the final cost of electricity, and is having a terrible effect on the people of Appalachia.

Please take a second to call your representative and urge them to co-sponsor this important bill.

Links:
REP endorses the Clean Water Protection Act
Christians for the Mountains
iLoveMountains.org