Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s op-ed in the Washington Post this morning, entitled "A President Breaks Hearts in Appalachia," is a must read. Calling it - correctly - an "Appalachian apocalypse," RFK, Jr. rails against a practice that has "demolished 500 mountains -- encompassing about a million acres -- buried hundreds of valley streams under tons of rubble, poisoned and uprooted countless communities, and caused widespread contamination to the region's air and water." There's a lot more, and it's not pleasant reading, but the bottom line is this: it's long past time to enforce the law and put a stop to this abomination, which "is now accomplishing what the glaciers could not -- obliterating the hemisphere's oldest, most biologically dense and diverse forests." Coal companies should not be allowed to "use streams as waste dumps." Period. "Dumping waste within 100 feet of intermittent or perennial streams" should not be permitted. Period. The "absurd fiction" that these mountains and their ecosystems can be "reclaimed" needs to be put into a dustbin of Orwellian phrases like "war is peace," "healthy forests" and "clear skies." Period. The Clean Water Act needs to be fully enforced. Period. Last but not least, President Obama needs to go to Appalachia personally and see what this horrendous practice does to people, communities, and this unique and beautiful environment. Period.
By the way, for those who claim there are so many jobs associated with MTR coal mining, the statistics tell a completely different story. As RFK writes:
In 1966, 46,000 West Virginia miners were collecting salaries and pensions and reinvesting in their communities. Mechanization has shrunk that number to fewer than 11,000. They extract more coal annually, but virtually all the profits leave the state for Wall Street.
That's right, fewer than 11,000 people (and falling) - "less than are employed in the Walmarts within the state," as Teacherken notes - working to extract coal by teaing down the mountains of West Virginia. And the end result of all this, aside from trashed mountains and local ecosystems? When burned, all this coal will melt the polar ice caps, acidify the oceans, inundate coastal cities, and generally make our planet a lot worse place to live. Is this worth it under any circumstances, let alone when we can switch to energy efficiency and clean renewable power? Frankly, I can't think of more of a "no brainer" than stopping this immoral practice immediately. President Obama, I know you've got a lot of other issues on your plate, but please go see Mountaintop Removal for yourself and PLEASE put a stop to it. Wouldn't you rather have your legacy be more like Teddy Roosevelt's than George W. Bush's? Right, I thought so.
