Stopping the Desecration of Mountaintop Removal
by Jim Hightower
Obama spaketh, and it was good: "We have to find more environmentally sound ways of mining coal than simply blowing the tops off mountains," he proclaimed.
And, yea, in the mountains and down through all the valleys of the ancient land of Appalachia, hearts were filled with joy, for here was a prophet of hope who was signaling that a change was coming — at last, the endtime was at hand for the brutish coal-mining method called "mountaintop removal," which is a ...
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9 Comments | Post Comment
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Posted by: Christine
Comment: #1
Thu Jun 4, 2009 1:37 PM
I called the number (202) 456-1414, asked for and got Ms Sutley. When I told her what it was about, she curtly and abruptly transferred me to the Comment Line. The comment taker said that direct number for comment is 202-456-1111.
The comment taker kept asking me questions and said she had never heard of this. When I addressed the argument about jobs and the economy, and that if the president wants to create jobs he needs to ban MTR which uses giant machines instead of men and there would be plenty of jobs for miners, the woman asked me, "Do they want those jobs?" Good Lord!!!
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Posted by: Elizabeth Hayes
Comment: #2
Thu Jun 4, 2009 4:42 AM
YES, I KNOW ABOUT THE PRESIDENTS PROMISES!!!
They sounded good didn't they....well, now it is reality time. There IS NO DRILLING GOING ON, that is what the taxpayers asked for, there is no NUCLEAR ENERGY....that would be what the voters were asking for. NO, WE ARE GOING TO HAVE ALTERNATIVE WINDMILLS AND BLOW THE TOPS OFF OF MOUNTAINS....GREAT!!!
So much for CHANGE, that is what people that voted for this President voted for CHANGE!!
Have you gotten it? I DON'T THINK SO!!
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Posted by: Christine
Comment: #3
Thu Jun 4, 2009 9:39 AM
Let Obama send HIS children to live with the aftermath of Mountaintop Removal. Let THEM breathe, drink, and eat the lead, arsenic, mercury, selenium and other heavy metals released by blowing up the mountains. Does he think HIS kids are more precious than our kids? Does he think the Appalachian Mountain children are not worth protecting?
Until now, the genocide by our government against Appalachia was a Big Business/Repub/ assault exacerbated by Bush on these helpless people (yeah, yeah, I know Byrd and The Prince have a "D" behind their name, blah, blah, blah) but with those 42 permits, Obama bought this Crime Against Humanity for his own.
He is a liar, a sneak, and a cheat, but now we know who we're fighting, which is crucial to effecting a successful battle. My bad, I voted for him, but McCain would have done the same thing; politics as usual. When money talks, politicians listen.
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Posted by: Bill Leavy
Comment: #4
Tue Jun 9, 2009 10:21 AM
I called the White House at the number which appears in this piece and asked for Nancy Sutley. The operator refused to put me through when I told her it was concerning the president's decision to grant 42 permits for mountaintop removal. I could only get the recorded comment line. I'm underwhelmed!
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Posted by: TonyMountain
Comment: #5
Tue Jun 9, 2009 7:09 AM
This is just the latest dissapointing example of how Obama has hoodwinked the USA. Good lord, this is the ONE campaign promise I actually wanted him to keep.
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Posted by: Tim Mullins
Comment: #6
Wed Jun 3, 2009 2:28 AM
Appalachia can't stand anymore of the progress and prosperity thanks to the new and improved, clean, green, hybrid coal industry and mountaintop removal. http://www.wisecountyissues.com/?p=138 Wise County, Virginia is being bombed, blasted and bulldozed right into 3rd world America.
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Posted by: Mike Carano
Comment: #7
Wed Jun 3, 2009 5:09 AM
Well it seems he spaketh, but he spaketh first from the heart since anyone with a heart knows that blowing the tops off of mountains and bulldozing into valleys is an affront to anyone with a brain. Then, he acteth without spakethen by slyly pushing this through, and that was an act of wily political machinations coming from weakneth.
To destroy a mountain range for King Coal for a handful of jobs is pure lunacy, and if he keeps doing stuff like this he should be banished to the Land of Nod for a long respite in the desert after his term is over,
But the truth is, we need to speaketh, speaketh loud in the tongue of truth to power, and call the number our good buddy Hightower posted and call all our congressional representatives too and awaketh them to the fact that they were elected to server the people not the corporations who fuel their fires on greed.
Call now and so be it, we can save what bit of Eden is left here on earth in the great Appalachians.
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Posted by: Mike Carano
Comment: #8
Wed Jun 3, 2009 5:16 AM
Seriously, you have to wonder how many jobs could be created if we were using those mountains for green energy wind propellers. You might think that would create a heck of a lot more jobs while preserving the beauty of those states being devastated by senseless greed. I have travelled a number of times through West Virginia, and it is one beautiful state. I know it is economically depressed, but maybe thinking big and bailing out the working people there by creating Green Jobs would end support of the coal cutthroats.
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Posted by: thermo_man
Comment: #9
Wed Jun 3, 2009 8:16 AM
There's renewable energy in them-thar hills. It's called CAPE, and doesn't require that any more mountain tops be removed in order to be harvested and converted into electricity. All than needs to be done is to build an Atmospheric Vortex Engine on top of one of the already affected mountains. Ref: http://vortexengine.ca
By building this, Appalachia can benefit from the availability of low-cost electricity for manufacturing, etc., or enjoy income from electricity exporting and low-carbon credits.
If you want to know more about CAPE--see http://www.tornadochaser.net/ and click on capeclass tab.
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