There's no environmentally protective way to blow up a mountain and then dump it into a stream

There's no environmentally protective way to blow up a mountain and then dump it into a stream

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<p>&nbsp;<a href='http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2167/t/5243/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27485'>http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2167/t/5243/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27485</a></p>
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<p><strong>There's no environmentally protective way to blow up a mountain and then dump it into a stream</strong></p>
<p>Can you blow up mountains and protect them at the same time? In mountaintop removal mining, the coal industry blasts away the tops of mountains, strips out the coal, then dumps the waste into valleys and streams below, destroying entire communities in the process. During election season, then-presidential candidate Barack Obama called this practice an "environmental disaster." But now, rather than put an end to this disaster, his administration has green-lighted the issuance of permits for mountaintop removal in the fragile Appalachian region of the eastern United States while simultaneously promising "to ensure mining activities will occur in a more environmentally protective way in or near Appalachian streams."<br /><br /><b>There's no environmentally protective way to blow up a mountain and then dump it into a stream.</b> The only thing being protected by the administration is the coal industry. Moreover, besides burying the biodiversity of Appalachia, the whole point of mountaintop removal is to produce coal, the burning of which pushes us even further down the path to climate catastrophe. Sadly, the Obama administration has no intention of ending this atrocious practice anytime soon. The good news, however, is that Congress is considering legislation that would do just that. <br /><b><br />Please take a minute to contact your representatives and ask them to support the Appalachia Restoration Act, the Clean Water Protection Act, and end mountaintop removal coal mining.</b></p>
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<p><a href='http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&amp;c=TDyeo06rUGi5lfQzBvA4dddQPMWpA4mb'><b><b></b></b></a><b><b><b><a href='http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&amp;c=irRSyUK64dAkcFQ0bPW6qNdQPMWpA4mb'>Click here to find out more and take action.</a><br /></b></b></b></p>
<p>If you have trouble following the link, go to <a href='http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&amp;c=fpHqUhI1u5kMldhz1NP8c9dQPMWpA4mb'>http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2167/t/5243/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27485</a></p>
<p><a href='http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2167/t/5243/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27485'>http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2167/t/5243/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27485</a></p>
<p>The mountains, streams, and communities of Appalachia need your voice. There are 108 pending permits for mountaintop removal coal mining projects that would irreversibly blast forests down to bedrock and annihilate streams.<br />&nbsp;<br /><b>Mountaintop removal has already destroyed more than 1.5 million acres of hardwood forest and 1,400 miles of streams in a region that boasts the world's highest diversity of salamanders, crayfishes, and freshwater mussels.</b> Due to the blasting, noise, and pollution caused by mountaintop removal, Appalachian residents have said they feel they&rsquo;re living in a war zone. <br />&nbsp;<br />During election season, then-presidential candidate Barack Obama called this practice an "environmental disaster." But now, rather than put an end to this disaster, his administration has green-lighted the issuance of permits for mountaintop removal in Appalachia while simultaneously promising "to ensure mining activities will occur in a more environmentally protective way in or near Appalachian streams."<br />&nbsp;<br /><b>There's no environmentally protective way to blow up a mountain and then dump it into a stream.</b><br />&nbsp;<br />Send the letter below to your congressional representatives and ask them to pass the Appalachia Restoration Act (S. 696) in the Senate and the Clean Water Protection Act (H.R. 1310) in the House, which would prohibit the dumping of mining waste into streams &mdash; effectively ending mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia.

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