I received this as a comment to my message "Clean" Coal and the Candidates from Kentucky environmental activist Teri Blanton, and though it was too important to hide in a comment!
The Environmental Protection Agency is on the verge of approving a proposal that would allow coal-mining companies to dump mining waste directly into flowing streams, filling in the streams entirely and destroying all the life in them.
Since 1983 the Stream Buffer Zone rule has prohibited mining within 100 feet of flowing streams, but now the Bush administration and the Office of Surface Mining are trying to push through an under-the-table, last-minute effort to remove this protection.
If the EPA approves the repeal, it will be perfectly legal for coal companies to blow off the top of a mountain, then dump the waste straight into streams, killing the rare salamanders, fish, and other species that live in Appalachian waterways. EPA Administrator Johnson could make the decision at any moment, so time is critical.
Please take a minute to tell the EPA not to approve the Stream Buffer Zone revision, and pass this alert along to as many of your friends as possible.
Click here to take action.
Teri is a fascinating person, who has devoted her life to saving these mountains she loves. Take a few minutes to click the link above to read about her and her actions. And get yourself involved in this important issue as well. I discovered her photo and video page, with some moving pictures of moving mountains and she also took the disturbing picture at the top of this page. I am sure she'd be delighted with your help as well!
I've been reading more and more about how coal is getting priced out of the competition, so that soon we will be able to manage with solar, wind, geothermal and whatever else American (and other) ingenuity can bring. We don't need the coal! Let's not lose one more mountain to the power of Big Coal. Let's show them the Power of the People instead!
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